What If She Found Everything She Wanted?
by Lanie Anderson
Summary: Buffy's search for Angel after 'Not Fade Away'. A chance meeting may lead her to exactly what she's been searching for. A Buffy Bones Crossover Fic. YAYY! CHAPTER 22 ADDED!
1. Chapter 1

_All characters within belong respectively to 20th Century Fox, Mutant Enemy, and Far Field Productions. _

_Summary: Buffy's search for Angel after 'Not Fade Away'. A chance meeting may lead her to exactly what she's been searching for._

_May contain spoilers from the Buffy, Season 8 comic_

_This is my first attempt at fanfic, so please read and review._

**Los Angeles 2007**

**Chapter 1**

He hated LA and everything that it stood for. If it wasn't for his job dealing with the unseemly likes of the underworld, he'd probably never come here at all, but it was his job. He defended the innocent and corrected whatever injustice he could. He was a man on a mission, actually more like the case of the boring science convention and his partner was waiting for him in the lobby of their hotel. He couldn't deny he liked the hotel though, the Hyperion.

Agent Seeley Booth was so lost in his thoughts about hating LA and science, that he didn't even notice the blonde walking out of the room to his left as she bumped right into him.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to plow you down" the petite blonde said without looking up from a file that she was reading. It appeared that she was immersed in work and was late. She was juggling the file in one hand along with a cell phone and in the other hand she held a cup of coffee and her hotel keycard.

"It's quite all right, I understand what it's like to work and run. Agent Seeley Booth, nice to meet you Miss…" he replied.

At the sound of his voice the blonde suddenly looked up, dropping the file she had been reading along with her coffee, phone and keys. When she looked up she held the shimmer of tears in her eyes.

"Angel?" She said with a puzzled look on her face.

"No, Agent…Booth, are you ok?"

She knew it was him, she felt it to the core of her very soul, but he didn't know. The man that stood in front of her was her Angel, yet he called himself Agent Booth. He didn't know who he was and she didn't know how he was here, after all this time.

It took Buffy a moment to regain her composure. "My bad" she said, "you look a lot like a guy I used to know. So much in fact, it's kinda creepy. Buffy Summers" and she extended her hand to him with a shaky smile.

"Well, it's very nice to be run over by you, Miss Summers."

As he took her hand he got the weird feeling that he knew her. But that was impossible because he'd surely remember meeting this girl. She was the kind of girl that stood out from the crowd. Not because she was eccentric or anything, just quite pretty and she had eyes that were like emeralds. She had an energy that seemed to flow from her, she was definitely not the type of girl you could forget.

"I hate to even ask this, but are you sure I don't know you from somewhere? Because your face seems so familiar, but I just can't place it."

"Pretty sure, unless it was some drunken one night stand I don't remember either, we don't know each other." Buffy lied as she began to pick up her file and belongings.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Buffy. Can I offer you an elevator ride to the lobby? Booth asked.

"No, actually, I need to go back to my room for something. Maybe we'll run into each other again though."

"Maybe, but I'm only in town till this convention is over, then it's back to DC for me. Tell you what, let's make it a point to 'run into' each other again, this evening, for drinks?" Booth asked.

Before she could stop herself, Buffy accepted, agreed to meet him at the Hyperion's bar and watched as "Booth" got onto the elevator. She then turned and opened the door to her room. Angel was here, after 3 years of looking for him, he was here, and he was human. She had to call Willow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Oh my Goddess!" Willow exclaimed. "I can't believe it, I mean I kind of can, because he did manage to come back from hell once, but I can't believe it! You searched everywhere for him for almost three years and BAM he knocks you down in the hallway of HIS, well, your hotel! And you say he doesn't know who he is?"

"Well, he says his name is Agent Seely Booth and he's an FBI agent. He didn't even flinch when I called him Angel, just corrected me and then asked me out for drinks." Buffy replied.

"He asked you out for drinks? Are you going? What am I saying, of course you're going, wait, you are going, right?"

"Yes, Will, I'm going" Buffy said with a smile. Willow was her best friend in the whole world and she was known to get a bit excited at times.

"I want to get to the bottom of what is going on here, Will. I mean, I've exhausted every effort I had to find Angel when I found out what Giles had done. When I heard he died, you know I couldn't accept that, I could still feel him. I've been all over the world in the last 3 years looking for him and he turns up in LA, in his hotel. I just don't understand what's going on here. He said he was only going to be in town for a few more days, then he was going back to DC."

"Buffy, I know you want to find out what happened, but be careful with him. If he can't remember his life before, this may all be quite a shock to him, so go easy, okay. I need to go, the girls are ready for their meditation class. Call me tonight when you get in and let me know how things went, love ya, Buffy. Bye."

"Bye, Will." Buffy said and she set her phone on the bed. Well, it was time to go about her daily business, but her daily business had been looking for Angel everyday for the last three years. It was a little after 9:30 so she had the rest of the day to do research. Buffy crossed her room to the desk and flipped open her laptop. She opened Internet Explorer and typed in Seeley Booth in the search bar. Her search found that he was a former sniper for the Army. He was now a well known special agent for the FBI and had worked some well known cases in the DC area. His partner was Temperance Brennan, a highly accredited anthropologist with the Jeffersonian. She had also written a few popular true crime novels. They had been working together for the last two years. Buffy could find nothing on Booth before the year 2005, and that was a small clue, he possibly didn't exist before then.

After an hour of surfing the net for info on "Booth" Buffy decided to take a walk. She was trying not to dwell on Angel but her thoughts kept drifting back to him, as they've done since she was sixteen. After everything they had been through over the years, she still thought about him. Sure, she lived her everyday life, and he wasn't always lingering there, but it was when she had those precious moments to herself. When she was taking a bath, when she was walking down the street, whenever she had a quiet moment she always thought of Angel. Even when she had been with Riley and Spike, Angel was always there in her heart. She often thought of him in those last few moments before she fell asleep. All that had been before she heard what had happened in LA and that Giles had refused to help Angel when he needed it.

It was Cordelia who came to her and let her know what was going on with Angel. Buffy had been in her room in Scotland when Cordelia came. She told Buffy about everything that had happened with Angel since Sunnydale was swallowed up. Buffy had never known that he and Spike had come to Italy to see her, she didn't know about the Shanshu, and she damn sure didn't know Angel needed her help. If she had known she would have been there in a heartbeat. For the bitch Cordy had been in life, she was equally as much a good person in the afterlife. Well, maybe except for the fact that she had blasted Buffy for her lack of actual contact with Angel.

"I mean, you guys are freakin' soul mates and you can't even take one minute out of your precious time to call him and ask how he is doing. Sometimes you are really self-centered, Buffy! I'm the Slayer and the world revolves around me, well guess what, you are not the ONLY champion of this world. Angel is just as much it's savior as you are and right now he NEEDS you, so get off you selfish ass and FIND HIM!" and then Cordy was gone.

Buffy often thought about that encounter with Cordelia. She could tell from the look in Cordelia's eyes that she had loved Angel for more than just a friend. She would sometimes find herself wondering if they had been more, but would decide it didn't matter. Cordelia had said Buffy and Angel were soul mates, and Buffy couldn't deny it. She had always known it, but she thought she could go on and live her life without him. Now that he'd been found, she planned to make sure she didn't have to live her life her life without him. Some way, some how, they would be together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Booth couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he had from his encounter with the tantalizing blonde, Buffy Summers. He got this creepy crawly feeling all over when ever he thought about it. That bolt of electricity that had shot through him when he touched her hand had been, well, a shock. He'd never felt anything like that before. He instantly felt as if he'd known the girl his entire life. While they had their small exchange he found himself wanting to embrace this girl and protect her from the world. For some reason he knew that the world had been a cruel place to her and he just wanted to keep her safe. And that scared him, a lot. He had absolutely no reason to feel this way about a girl he had just met, but he did. 

He couldn't concentrate on anything Bones was saying during the lecture she was giving. All he could think about was Buffy and seeing her later that evening. He realized Temperance was done with her lecture at the sound of a quiet applause she was receiving. He had come along on this trip to keep his partner safe, even at her insistence that she could manage the trip alone. That's the kind of guy he was, he would inconvience himself to help out a friend.

"Booth, are you ok? You seem to be lost in deep thought or something." Temperance asked.

"I'm fine Bones, just thinking about a hot date I've got later this evening. Finally found something to look forward to in this God Forsaken city." he said with a grin.

"Really? You're this worked up over a stranger you've just met in a place you loathe? I mean this is LA, aren't you worried she could really be a he or something?"

"Why, Bones, was that a joke?! Because I do believe it was. I know you're gonna analyze this when I tell you, but I have the strongest pull to this girl. I could almost swear I know her, even though I don't. I don't quite understand it, but I WANT to know her. I want to know everything I can, without having to do a background check on her. "

"Booth, it's just simple human attraction, all homo-sapiens feel a degree of familiarity when they find someone they find suitable as a mate."

"I somehow knew you were going to say that. Thanks anyway Bones, if you don't care, I'm gonna head on back to my room and get ready for my date. I'll catch up with you tomorrow, all right?"

"Sure, but Booth, I've just got one question. We leave for DC the day after tomorrow, what are you going to do about these feelings you're having, then?"

"Well, I'll deal with that then, Bones, I'll deal with that then".


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Buffy fumbled nervously with the cross on her necklace. Ten years ago Angel had given this to her the first time they met. Would he reckognize it tonight? Would he notice the scar on her neck? God, she had to stop worrying about this stuff and just get through the night. Her mission tonight was to find out as much as she could about Booth from Booth.

She finished dressing and went to take a final look at herself. She liked the dress she was wearing, just a simple black, slip dress, but it made her feel pretty. Her shoes were strappy stilettos, they helped make her feel powerful and sexy. Her only accessories were her cross necklace and silver hoop earrings. She wore her hair down, with the sides pulled back and the ends slightly curled, it fell down her back to her hips. It hadn't been this long since she was 15, before she came to Sunnydale. She felt very feminine and seductive. She had longed to know what it was like to be touched by Angel as a woman, and not a scared young girl. There would be no touching tonight, she wanted to tease just enough to get the information she wanted.

With one last spritz of vanilla body spray, Buffy was ready to face the man she hadn't seen in 4 years. She grabbed her purse and black leather jacket and headed for the door. Time to party.

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It wasn't like Booth had never met women for drinks before, but he was unnaturally nervous about the encounter that was about to be at hand. He didn't understand it, he wasn't the type of guy to get nervous before a date, but he was sweating bullets right now. It had taken him what seemed like hours to put together the right look. He didn't know whether to go casual or button down shirt. Then there was the color, what color would make the right impression. Man, he was worse than a chick. He finally decided to go with a blue button down silk shirt, black slacks and a black leather jacket.

Taking a final look at his watch it was a quarter till 7:00, if he left now he'd be early. Would that make him appear too eager? Maybe, but he decided he should be there before her, it was common courtesy, right. Jeez, he was acting like Zach, and that was so not cool.

Booth sat at the bar, trying to casually eat pretzels and nursing his Amaretto Sour. He checked his watch again, 7:20, she wasn't coming. He knew it, she wasn't coming. He downed the rest of his drink and turned on his stool to leave, and he saw her. She entered the room with the confidence of a female that was very proud of her sex appeal. Her head held high and a slight sway to her hips that made he dress flow as she walked. The stilettos she wore accentuated the muscles in her legs, not to muscular, but you could tell this girl took care of herself. God, she was beautiful, like a living goddess. She honestly took his breath away. Oh shit, was he drooling?

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"So Agent Booth, sorry I'm late, but I couldn't be on time, that would make me look too eager and like an easy date. Just one of those rules of dating." she said with a sexy smile.

"Yeah, I had the same dilemma with showing up to early, but I decided it was only common courtesy to show up before you. Besides, if I had been late, I would have missed that breath taking entrance you just made. You are one very gorgeous woman. I'm warning you now, it's going to be hard to keep my eyes off you."

"Well, that's the point now isn't it? Now, tell me Agent Booth how is it you came to be in the FBI? Was it one of those follow in your family's footsteps or something?"

"Actually, that's why I joined the army. While I was enlisted I had a slight injury that kept me from serving to my fullest so, I was honorably discharged and offered a job as a Special Agent for the FBI. I'm a guy who likes action, so I took it. That's about it."

"Well, that's really straight and to the point huh? Nothing cryptic in that explanation. I guess my next question would be you aren't married, right? I mean, I assume not, because you're here with me. I'd hate to have to end this date early, cause you are one fine specimen of the male species, that would be very, very disappointing."

"No, I'm not married, never have been. The closest I've been to a woman is my son's mother. It's not that I didn't want to marry her, she thought it would hold her back from her career. I guess I didn't really love her though, it was more of a sense of duty than love. I think that's really why she turned me down, which was smart."

"You have a son, how old is he, what's his name?" Buffy asked.

"His name is Wesley and he's 3. He's the very center of my existence. Though my job keeps me from him more than I'd like."

"Yeah, I know all about that. Missing out on things because of your job, it truly sucks."

"What do you do, Buffy, that keeps you so tied up?"

"Oh nothing, I just save the world one day at a time." she said with a cheesy grin. "I'm a teacher at a special school in Scotland, and a part-time PI and I'm the owner of the Hyperion Hotel. Actually, I guess I've been a full time PI for the last 3 years. I've been on the case of a missing person. That's why I'm back in LA, I kinda had a lead, but it didn't pan out. So tell me, what in the world is a Special Agent doing at a conference for Anthropology?"

"My partner, Temperance Brennan. She's an anthropologist for the Jeffersonian and she kinda needed a chaperon. I volunteered. I actually hate science and scientists. It's all about the 'logical' with them. They don't trust their feelings, just their facts. I'm more of a gut feeling kinda guy."

"Well, tell me Agent Booth, what is your gut feeling right now?" Buffy asked with a seductive smile.

"I'm feeling like I want to kiss you."

And he did. The moment their lips touched the electricity he had felt earlier from the hand shake, tripled. A heat began with their mouths and began to course through his veins. He didn't even have to coax her mouth open to taste her, she was opening for him all ready. God, his body was being engulfed with fire and he wanted to take her with him. But she broke their kiss, way too early.

"What's wrong, why'd you stop?" he asked Buffy

"Because that kiss was about to get way X-rated and we are in the middle of my bar. We need to take this someplace more private. Wanna head up to your room?"

"Sorry, can't do, got too much confidential FBI stuff up there, how about your's?"

"Same confidential problem. But not to worry, this is my hotel, wait right here and I'll be back in just a moment."

Oh Goddess, was this a good idea, Buffy thought as she turned and walked away. What on earth was she doing? She was only supposed to be teasing him, not planning to take him up to a room and have an all nighter. She couldn't help herself though, when he kissed her, a longing that she had held deep within her for far too long, just let go. The warmth of his lips on hers was undeniable, and she wanted so much more. God she wanted more, and she would have it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Hey Connie, I need to know if one of the suites are available?"

"Just a moment Miss Summers, I'll check. It looks like Suite 217 is."

"Great, put me down for that suite. I'll be keeping my regular room, but I have a guest that I will be entertaining at the suite. DO NOT call me unless it's extremely urgent like the next apocalypse or something. You and the others can handle anything, on both fronts if you catch my drift."

"Drift caught Buffy, have fun!"

As Buffy made her way back to the bar she caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye. At first she wasn't sure if she was really seeing what she was seeing, then she heard an unmistakable British accent.

"I don't give a bloody hell what or who she is doing, just tell the girl that William would like to see her. She'll come, I know it."

"What are you doing here, Spike?"

"What pet, can't a man pop in and say hello to the woman that holds the key to his heart?"

"Not if that woman doesn't want to have anything to do with you, you can't. Now, get the hell out of my hotel before I throw you out."

"Aww, come now luv, you know you can't do that, bein' as I'm human and all. That makes me one you're sworn to protect, not hurt. Though I admit, I do miss a good ole Slayer ass kicking."

"You maybe human Spike, but we both know you retained your vampiric powers. Let's get down to it, what do you want?"

"Well, basically, when I said the woman that holds the….Peaches?"

"Buffy, is this guy bothering you?"

"No, Booth, he's a friend, a very, very annoying friend, but a friend none the less."

"Booth, who the bloody hell is Booth, Buffy pet, what's going on here?

"Spike" Buffy said through gritted teeth, "this is Special Agent Seeley Booth. He's from Washington DC and he's a special guest here on business. I admit, he does have an uncanny resemblance to your brother, though doesn't he?"

"Yeah, uncanny. Listen pet, can I speak to you for a moment over here, in private?"

"Sure, I'll be right back Booth and we can pick up where we left of, okay?" Buffy said with a smile.

"Sure thing, I'll just be right over here if you need me." he said, then he gave her a tender kiss and walked over by the front desk. He eyed the platinum blonde with a vicious grin, as if to say "touch her and I'll rip you to shreds". He didn't know why he felt this protectiveness of Buffy from this guy, he just knew he didn't like him. It was possible he even hated him.

"I know how this looks Spike, and you're wrong, he's Angel. I don't know how, but it's him. I can feel his soul and it's Angel's soul."

"Pet, I know you want to believe more than anything that, that big Poof is Peaches, but it can't be. Angel was staked before my very eyes, luv. I killed the bastard that did it. I wept tears of grief for my grandsire and yes, friend, then by some twist of fate, I received his Shanshu. Angel is dead Buffy, that man can't be him."

"Tell me you don't feel it, Spike. You've always been one to trust my instinct. I know it's him. I KNOW, Spike. I just need to know how. Trust me in this, okay?"

"All right, Slayer, I'll trust you, but if you need me I'm just a phone call away."

"Thanks, Spike. I'll keep that in mind. By the way, what did you come by here for?"

"It's not important right now luv, I'll get with you on that later on. Take care, Slayer."

As Buffy turned and made her way back to Booth, she noticed the jealous look on his face. No doubt about it, this man was Angel. If she didn't feel it with her own soul, she would know just by the death glare he was giving Spike, and then the triumphant smile he gave Spike as Buffy held out her hand to him. Yeah, totally Angel.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"God you feel like Heaven on Earth. I've missed you so much, promise me that this is all over with and we can just be together now."

"As much as I'd like to do that, I'm afraid I can't, pet. I didn't get a chance to speak with her. She was sort of busy. I promise I will talk to the Slayer tomorrow, luv. Cross my heart." Spike said with a wicked grin.

"Would you quit calling her "The Slayer", she's not the only one anymore, plus she's my sister. Just call her by her name, Buffy. So, what was she doing anyway? Let me guess, she's got another dead end lead on Angel and she couldn't be bothered at the moment." Dawn said with a slightly perturbed tone to her voice.

"Not quite, Peanut. I believe she may have found him. Well, at least she believes she may have found him. I'm really not sure myself, seeing as how I seen the bugger die and all. I have to admit, the fellow she has in mind could be Peaches twin. Right down to the staring daggers through me when I was talking to Buffy."

"What? She's found Angel, you can't be serious. Can you? Oh Spike, if this is really him then maybe I'll get my sister back, instead of the shell she's been for the last 3 years. All I've ever wanted is for Buffy to be happy. She's been so sad for so long, she needs a little happiness in her life. I just hope she can feel the same for us. I'm so tired of hiding, Spike. Let's just run off to Vegas and get married. She'll have no choice but to accept what we are to each other then."

"While that is a novel idea, luv, you're sister would have my balls in a vice. Then we'd never have children and I want lots of'em. As soon as she finds what she needs and puts this puzzle together luv, we'll tell her, I swear it."

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Hurry up and get that door open, before this gets x-rated right here in the hallway!"

"I'm going as fast as I can. This would go a lot faster if you would stop pawing me for a few seconds. Ok, so don't stop pawing me, I kinda like it, a lot!" Buffy squealed.

As she swung the door open Booth kissed her again, and backed her into the room. He began to slide down the straps of her dress as she unbuttoned his shirt. His kiss deepened and Buffy's moan echoed through his whole body.

"I usually don't go this far on a first date. I think maybe we should take things a little more slowly." Buffy said, her head swimming in a fog of confusion.

"Buffy, is that what you want? I never meant to come on so strongly. I honestly don't know what is going on. I have this strong attraction to you, but it feels like so much more than that. I don't know a damn thing about you, but I feel like I've known you my whole life. God, you smell so good, like sunshine."

Her eyes began to well with tears. He had told her that once before, along time ago, and he didn't know. Though some part of him had too, or he wouldn't be feeling the way he does.

"Booth, do you believe in true love? That when souls are handed out, each one is made in a pair, yet sent to the world separately, just waiting to meet up with the other one again?"

"I'm not sure. I like to think of myself as a somewhat logical guy, but I also go with my gut more than my brain. Do you think that is what's happening with us, that we're soul mates?"

"I don't think. I know. I can feel it vibrating through my entire body every time you touch me. The reason you feel like you know me is because you DID know me, before. You just don't remember. I don't know how or why, all I can tell you is what I know. I'm warning you, it's going to sound crazy, and if you decide that I'm nuts and you don't want to have anything to do with me then I'll walk right out that door. All I ask is that you listen to what I have to say, then make a decision, ok.

"What are you talking about? I don't know why, but I'm eager to hear what you're going to say that makes you think I'm going to turn you away. I can also see that this is very important to you. Go ahead, Buffy. Say what you need to, I promise I'll hear you out."

"God, I don't even know where to begin. We met 10 years ago in a dark alley, behind the Bronze. It was the hangout in a town called Sunnydale, ever heard of it?"

"Yeah, it was totally destroyed by a monstrous earthquake a few years ago, totally wiped of the face of the earth. Some of the scientists I know are completely fascinated by it and do research on it in their spare time. Then there are some that believe it was a big government conspiracy, that our government paid some terrorist cell to wipe it out. But that is stretching it a bit."

"Yeah, that's the place. Mysterious Sunnydale. Anyway, you came to warn me about an impending danger in my life, and then you gave me this" Buffy said, pointing to her necklace.

Buffy sat down on the plush, black, leather sofa. She watched as Booth sat down across from her on the ottoman. She took a deep breath and continued.

"I am a vampire slayer. At that time I was The Vampire Slayer and I was about to face a major Vamp called the Master. You came to me, to help me. You were a vampire with a soul named Angel. You looked exactly as you do now, just a little more pale. We fell in love, we fought together against evil, we fought each other when you went evil, then we fought together when you became good again. We spent 3 years together fighting the Big Bad, one of which you were the big bad. Then, in 1999, after I graduated high school, you left Sunnydale and moved here, to LA.

"At first you didn't have anyone here, then a half demon named Doyle came to you and helped you start Angel Investigations. You hired my arch nemesis, Cordelia as your Office Manager and boom, you were LA's Champion against all evil. You eventually moved your base of operations here, to the Hyperion and that's where you worked till 2003, when you took over Wolfram and Hart. They were a huge Evil Law firm whom you were constantly battling. In May of 2004, you entered a huge battle against thousands of demons and you lost many of your friends. One of your friends, Spike watched as you were staked by a demon."

"They told me you were dead, but I could feel in my soul you weren't, so I've been looking for you for almost 3 years. That's the fast version. So, am I crazy?"

Buffy sat waiting for Booth to answer as he processed everything she had just told him. She wasn't even sure why she just blurted all that out like she did. All she could do is watch him. He was so handsome, so gorgeous and she loved him so much. She knew what she just did was a long shot. If this didn't trigger something within him, then her only other chance was to get back to Scotland and talk to Willow, maybe she could help.

"I don't think you're crazy, I'm not sure why, but I don't. Honestly, I'm the crazy one, because I almost believe you. Almost. I think you need to go, Buffy. I think you believe what you're saying is true, because you've lost someone you love and I resemble him. So, your brain is trying to process it all and this is how it's coping. You're a beautiful person, but I can't be someone else's stand in. That's not me. Just go, I'm sorry, but just go, Buffy."

Buffy slowly rose from the couch and turned towards the door. It was so hard not to throw herself at his feet and plead with him to believe her. She knew that wouldn't work. Plus, it would make her feel weak and that's not what she needed right now. As she opened the door she turned and looked at him and all she said was "Okay."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

He watched as the second hand ticked by, only two more minutes.

"It's not enough time" she said, crying as she did.

"I will never forget, I will never forget, I will never forget…"

Booth woke soaked in sweat. What a hell of a dream. Wait, what had he been dreaming about? Buffy, she was there, in his dream and she had been crying. He felt a strange sense of loss. She had said something about not forgetting. He rolled over and punched his pillow a few good times, and laid back on his back with his hands under his head. It must have been a reaction to the day he'd had. He tried to remember more of the dream, but he couldn't come up with anything. There really wasn't any point in putting more into it than he could. She had seemed so sad and distraught, and it was eating away at him. He finally decided to put it in the back of his mind and that he would check into Buffy when he got back to DC.

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"I know, Will, don't say it. You told me so. So, do you think you have any kind of mojo that can help him remember?" Buffy asked.

"Buffy, I'm so not going there right now. It's too soon, we need to give this just a little more time. I don't want to do something drastic and bring this back on him too soon. You said he felt like he knew you, maybe in time, he will remember. But you gotta give it time, ok?"

"I know, but what if this was Tara, what if she was given back to you and she didn't know you and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it. How would you feel?"

"I'd feel lost and want to do whatever I could to get her back. I understand, Buffy, I truly do. I just think we should give it some time."

"Well, now that he's human, I don't have a whole lot of time, but I will. I've gotta go, Will. He's only gonna be here until tomorrow and I'd like to find him and apologize. Thanks for the support. I'll call you if anything changes."

Buffy got up and dressed to go downstairs. She needed to find Booth and try to smooth things over.

As she opened her door to leave she was surprised to see Booth standing on the other side.

"Well, guess I'm busted. I've been standing here for about 5 minutes trying to decide to knock or not. Buffy, I wanted to apologize for last night. I shouldn't have treated you that way."

"Hold that thought and come in and sit down." Buffy said

After Booth took a seat on the sofa by the window, Buffy moved to sit next to him.

"You are not the one who should be apologizing here, I should be. You were right. You definitely remind me of a man that I once loved very, very much. Do you remember when I told you that I'm a part time PI and that I own this hotel. Well, the missing person I've been searching for was that man. Whether you believe me or not, everything I told you last night was the truth. I know you live in a world where science solves the problem, but there are things in this world that exist that science just can't explain. I just kind of jumped the gun, I guess. Maybe you aren't Angel, but it's so hard to tell. You have the exact same, well, everything. I just wish you could believe me."

"Buffy, I would like nothing more than to be able to believe you and pick up where we left off, but I just can't. The sensible part of me won't let me do that. But, I can rationalize, you miss Angel. Look, the deal is, I'm only here for one more night, and no matter how hard I try, I can't stop thinking about you. I want to be with you so bad I can taste it, so let's forget all about this nonsense for a while and just enjoy one another, what do ya say?"

Buffy hesitated for a moment, could she really just have one day and go back to life? She had to, for now at least. Then she could get back to Scotland and research with Willow about what has happened to Angel.

"OK, Booth you've got yourself a deal. So, where should we start?" Buffy asked.

"Well, how about lunch and then we can wing it from there. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go!"

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Her cell went off to the tune of "Cupid's Chokehold" by the Gym Class Heroes. She absently reached in her jeans pocket, pulled it out and flipped it open.

"Helloo"

"Hey Willow, whatcha doin?"

"Oh, hey Dawnie! I'm just doin a little research for your big sis."

"So, you're what, trying to decode Angel's aura or something?"

"What? No, I mean, never mind. How'd you find out?"

"Spike went to see Buffy about, well, you know and he saw Angel. Or at least some guy that looks A LOT like Angel anyway. He says Buffy really believes it's him. So how far have you gotten with your research?"

"I actually just started. I'm gonna have to do a little astral projection to see what the deal is with this Booth guy. I just don't wanna, uh, project into a touchy situation, if you catch my drift. So I'm gonna wait till Buffy gets back to do any mystical stuff with this Booth guy."

"Drift totally caught. Well, I'll leave you be, let me know when you find something out, okay?"

"You betcha Dawnie. Now, go get some quality time with Spike while Buffy's still preoccupied. I still don't like her not knowing what's going on, but I understand."

"I know, later Will."

It had been a while since Willow had been in research mode. She was usually the chica behind the magick these days. But this matter about Angel was a touchy situation with the Scoobies. Mainly Xander, he took it hard that Buffy was always running off to find Angel. She knew he'd never liked Angel, but he could at least try and empathize with Buffy. I mean, what if the situation had involved Anya, what would he do? Then there's Andrew, who was always cracking on Buffy for dumping Spike. Giles, well, while Angel had been an ally once, he had become someone Giles could never truly trust again. So she had agreed to keep this whole discovery a secret for Buffy until they had something more concrete. Willow was keeping lots of secrets for friends these days.

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"Taco Bell? Of all the places to have lunch in this city, you want to go to Taco Bell? You are a curious girl, very curious."

"What can I say, I really like Baja Chalupas and Baja Blast. Taco Bell is the only place you can get both."

"Well, I guess the only question now is, dine in or drive-thru?" Booth asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Drive-thru, I wanna eat at the beach. I've got a certain spot in my mind."

"The beach, did you remember to bring your bikini?" Booth asked with a devilish grin.

"Whoa there big fella, no bikini action today. I just wanna enjoy tacos, the sun, the surf and you. We're winging it, remember? I didn't have time to grab my bikini."

"Well, that truly is a shame, I bet you're a true sight to see scantily clad."

"Park over there," Buffy said pointing to a row of bushes next to a boardwalk.

As they walked through an overhang of foliage, Booth started to feel as if he'd been here before, he just couldn't quite place a time. This spot just seemed kind of familiar to him.

"You know, I just got the strongest sense of déjà vu. I think I may have been here before, I just can't remember when." Booth told Buffy.

"It's one of my favorite spots. I get the same déjà vu feeling sometimes myself, but I really like it. Makes me feel warm and happy just being here. I've had a lot of crappy stuff happen in my life, so when I have something that feels good, I cling to it. Even if its just to escape to a favorite spot and eat some chalupas."

Of course she couldn't tell him the real reason she brought him here. That day that was forgotten so long ago. She had remembered it when she died, in those moments when her whole life flashed before her eyes. She had forgiven Angel for his choice the night they met between Sunnydale and LA. She didn't tell him of course, thinking that one day, when the time was right, that she would. No, she had secretly forgiven him. And then HE died, and she thought she would never get the chance to tell him. Now they were here, together, and she still couldn't tell him she remembered. She only hoped that this place might spark something in his mind.

"I've got it, I know why this place seems so familiar at the moment. I dreamt of it last night. I walked from over there and I saw you standing here, looking out over the beach. The wind blowing your hair and you turned to look at me, like you knew I was there, even though I didn't call your name. You had a slight puzzled look on your face and then I just took you in my arms and kissed you….passionately."

"Really, sounds pretty hot. Where did it go from there?" Buffy asked, trying to hide her elation at Booth dreaming one of Angel's memories.

He thought for a moment and then told her he didn't remember the rest of the dream. Of course he was lying. Once he remembered that part of the dream other parts just kept flying at him. Fighting a strange, demonic looking samurai, cookie dough fudge mint chip ice cream, peanut butter and chocolate, sex, pain and Buffy crying, promising to 'never forget'. He didn't want to get her hopes up in anyway after what she had told him last night. It was just a dream, after all.

"Well, maybe we can make up our own ending to it." Buffy said with an impish grin.

"I think you just made a pass at me, Miss Summers and I think I liked it."

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"I don't think you're supposed to be doing that. You really shouldn't be messing with his mind like that, Cordelia. He's not supposed to remember anything."

"Oh, Wesley, shove it. You had him name his second son after you, so don't go telling me what I can and can't do. I'm a Power now, if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't even be there right now. He deserves to remember that he was a champion that fought to save the world. He also needs to recall everything we all went through together and especially all that brooding he did over her. So he truly can be happy."

"Yes, but how are the other Powers going to feel about you meddling in Buffy and Angel's lives?" Wesley asked.

"Well, that's the beautiful thing. Since Willow made all the Potential Slayers into actual Slayers, there are more Champions now. So they have more to worry about. They assigned you and Fred to Angel and Tara and I to Buffy. These two deserve to be happy, they deserve to have the life they were meant to have."

"Yes, but we are only supposed to observe, at least that is the impression that I was given."

"Will you stop with the 'yes, buts' we are the Powers that Be, Wes. We have control in the fates of our friends."

"I can't believe you are actually pulling for Buffy and Angel to be together." Wesley said.

"Well, Angel and I had a talk about 'us' during his short stay here. This is what he wanted, Wesley. He wanted to be with her. I mean for gods sakes, all he did was watch her day in and day out. He even stepped in when she needed that kiss of true love to be woken from that spell Amy the Bitch had put on her. Poor Xander, he's still confused about that to this day, and Anya wasn't very happy about it either. Anyway, he was in heaven and STILL brooded over his precious Buffy. She's the only thing that's ever made him happy, as evident by the murderous rampage he went on. This is what he needs, he needs Buffy, it took me a while to realize that. So, we're going to give him Buffy."

"As you wish then, Ms. Chase."

"Ewww, cold chills. Please don't ever say that again, really bad memories."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**"**Hello?"

"Hey, Buffy, whatcha doin?"

"Hey Dawn, I'm just ah, hanging out at the beach, why what's up?"

"Oh, nothing really, I was just wondering if you were going to make it up to Berkeley, before I head off to summer vacation?"

Shit, Buffy had totally forgotten she was supposed to go meet with Dawn's academic advisors before she got out for summer break. How in the world was she going to tell Dawn she couldn't make it. She'd all ready skipped out on so much, that Dawn thought of Willow as more of a motherly type figure than Buffy. She pretty much resented her and her constant search for Angel.

"I'm going to try my best to make it up there, it's just that, well, I've got a lead on a really important case and I'm not sure on how quickly I'll be able to get away."

"Well, if you can't make it, I'll totally understand. I mean, Willow, Spike or Xander could stand in for you, couldn't they?"

Wait, what? That isn't what she'd expected at all, she had expected whining and guilt trips and stuff. Dawn didn't even sound mad. She almost sounded relieved. Uh-oh, that means trouble.

"Dawn, are you failing? Have you been placed on academic probation or something. You sound almost happy that I might not be able to make it up there. And that's just weird."

"What? No, Buffy, I'm not failing. You get all my grades emailed directly to you, the same time I get them, remember. You know I'm not failing. It's just that, well, I know you mentioned something about lots of sister time this summer when I'm off, but I well…."

"You what?"

Buffy thought for a moment, what was Dawn trying to tell her? Dawn has a boyfriend, that had to be it.

"Did you meet someone?" Buffy asked

"Well, yeah, actually I did and I was kinda hoping to spend some time with him this summer, getting to know him and all."  
"This isn't going to turn out like that whole Kenny fiasco, is it, Dawn?"

"Buffy, HOW COULD YOU EVEN ASK THAT!" Dawn practically screamed.

"Well, you just don't need another guy that gives you giant problems." Buffy said, trying to suppress a laugh. She didn't succeed.

"Ha ha, very funny, laugh it up. No, it's nothing like that. He's actually someone that I've known for a while now. We just decided recently that we'd give things a go."

Buffy looked back at the bench where she had left Booth sitting. He was watching the ocean crash on the beach. Yeah, she could understand.

"Look, I know it's passed time for me to say this, but, you're a big girl Dawn. You don't need my permission to go out on dates and you're not going to hurt my feelings if you decide you'd rather spend more time with your new beau this summer than you're sister, who always seems to find a way to skip out on you. I'm not even going to grill you about him. All I ask is that you update me on your where a bouts, OFTEN."

Dawn was shocked. After all this time Buffy was treating her like an adult and not a 14 year old kid. There was a time when she would have shot back with a nasty remark about the fact that Buffy was always abandoning her, but she could finally understand why. If it were her in Buffy's shoes, she'd be the same way.

"It's okay Buffy, it's okay that you haven't been here for me 24/7. I understand, I really do."

"Really? This guy must be something pretty special then huh?"

"Yeah, he is. Look I've gotta go, I gotta get to class, I'll talk to you later, kay, bye."

"Oh Dawn, one more thing" and she heard the beep from her cell that meant the call was dropped.

"What's his name?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Buffy made her way back over to where Booth was sitting. She was so concerned about forgetting to ask what Dawn's new guy's name was, she didn't notice Booth studying her.

"Important call?" He asked.

"What, oh no, well sorta. That was my little sister on the phone. She called to see when I would be up to meet with her academic advisors. We ended up talking about her new boyfriend and I completely forgot to get his name from her. That's so not like me. I'm usually very pushy when it comes to stuff like that.

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm sure you'll talk to her again tomorrow, and you can ask her then. That's very cute by the way."

"What? What's cute?"

"The way you chew on your bottom lip when your worried."

Buffy smiled at that.

"Well, what do you wanna do now, Agent Booth. I do believe it's your turn to pick the next item on the agenda for the day."

"Hmmm, are you sure you really want to leave that decision entirely up to me? Honestly, for right now, why don't we sit here and talk. I wanna know as much as I can about you." 

"Well, I've given you the jist of things. What exactly do you wanna know?"

Booth thought for a moment.

"Here's a good one, how did you end up the owner of the Hyperion and when did you decide to remodel the place? I noticed the historical pictures in the lobby, it's quite different, even from just a few years ago."

"Ok, before I answer that, do you want to hear the truth, truth, meaning what I know as the truth, or would you like the basics, omitting certain aspects that could possibly ruin this fine date we're having here?" Buffy asked, not sure how she was going to get around this.

"I think I'll go with the omitted truth for $1,000, Alex" Booth said, with that sexy half smile that had always melted her heart.

It was so weird hearing pop culture references coming from Angel's mouth.

"Ok, then. Angel, the former proprietor of the hotel, left it to me when he died, along with a fair amount of money. He left me financially stable enough that I could fund my endeavors over the last few years, and I also invested wisely. With the money I made off some of my investments, I decided to refurbish the Hyperion. Make it a little more modern, but I still wanted it to retain that classic Hollywood feel.

"He must have loved you very much to provide for your future like that."

Buffy thought about that statement for a moment before continuing.

"Yeah, he did. But we had a tragic kind of love. There were circumstances beyond our control that kept us from being together. It was actually quite a shock to find out he had left me all of that. It was an even bigger shock that Spike was the one to deliver the news."

"Spike, you mean the bleached blonde Billy Idol wanna be from the hotel bar last night?"

Buffy laughed, how many times had she heard him referred to as that, it was just so funny coming from Angel.

"More with the pop culture references"

"What"

"Huh, oh nothing, inside joke. Anyway yeah, that's Spike. He's sort of an old flame, and well, the last time I had seen him, he was in a perilous situation. We all thought he was dead. So, I got triple whammied with his visit. He shows up in Scotland very much ALIVE with the news that Angel had died and that he had left me the Hyperion."

Even though she was sitting there, looking at Angel, it was still hard to stop her voice from trembling. That had been just as hard to take as her mother dying and it still hurt her very much to think about it. Booth seemed to notice, because he wrapped his arms around her. She hadn't been held like that in a very long time. The night of her mother's funeral to be exact, was the last time she had been held in such a warm embrace. She felt safe in his arms, like nothing in the world could touch her.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I'm sorry that I can't be him. God, I truly wish that I could. I wish that I could take away all of that pain that's etched on your face right now. You have such a good heart, I can see it. You hold it out before you for all the world to see and it's so fragile, Buffy. It's so fragile. If I could, I would take it into my own and protect it forever.

And she began to weep, because once again, he had said this before.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

What seemed like hours, but only minutes later, Buffy stopped crying. Where in the world had that come from? Was it because she had doubts about who the person was holding her right now. What if Booth turned out to be just Special Agent Seeley Booth and not Angel? This was a bad idea, she was all ready attaching herself to him and she couldn't let that happen.

"I'm beginning to think that maybe this was a bad idea." she said.

"Why? Was it something I said?"

"Honestly? Yea, it was. The last thing you said to me was very similar to something Angel once told me. And it's not just that one time, you keep doing it. And earlier, when you told me about the dream you had, that really happened. That was a very special moment in my life and the only two people that have ever known about it were me and Angel."

That came as yet another shock to him, and he wanted to think she was just saying these things, to mess with him. Why would she, she had no reason to, and somewhere deep within him, he knew she was telling the truth. He just didn't want to admit it. So he once again, pushed it back into the recesses of his mind.

"I think maybe I should go, Booth."

"Buffy, look at me." He took her chin in his hand and turned her face to him and held it there. She had no choice but to stare into those pools of chocolate he had for eyes.

"I don't want you to go. Should I say it again, I don't want you to go."

She closed her eyes, so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"I don't want to go, but…

He laid feather light kisses upon each of her eyelids.

"No. No buts, Buffy. I don't want you to go. Spend the night with me, let me make love to you tonight." He said, kissing his way down the side of her face, to her neck.

"I want you Buffy, all of you, just for tonight. Just be with me, say you will."

"Oh An---Booth, I will. I will."

"Good. Good. Let's get back to the hotel then."

As Buffy stood to leave, Booth sat for a moment. He reached up and caught her hand. He spun her around to face him and he stood, towering over her.

"I know I told you that I couldn't be a stand in, but if you want, just for tonight, I'll be your Angel, Buffy. I just want you to know that. If you call me Angel, it's ok, don't be ashamed or embarrassed. And I vow not to be offended."

He kissed her, gently at first, as if sealing his promise to her and then it became more passionate. Their tongues began that primeval dance that has been around since man and woman were created. The kiss deepened and Buffy whimpered with need as Booth crushed her closer to him. Hearing her, Booth let out a guttural growl and picked her up, wrapped her legs around him and carried her to the car.

"I don't know if I can make to the hotel", he said with laughter in his voice. There was something else to, something more primal.

Buffy laughed. "You're gonna have to big fella. I'd hate to get arrested for lewd conduct. It's just a short drive to paradise."

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"God Damn! That felt good!" She said, taking another swing at her opponent.

"A little more action like this and you could spoil a girl, Charlie Boy." she said with a grin.

"Keep comin' at me like that, and I may have to stop holdin' back."

"You always know how to boost a man's ego, Faith" Gunn said, taking another swing at her. She dodged it way before it could land. Gunn had leaned into a bit too much and Faith caught him with a standing super-kick to the head.

Her opponent went down and she felt a small amount of pity for him as he just laid there, face down on the floor.

"Come on now, Gunn. No pouting when we're sparring. You know it makes it less fun for me." She said, still in fighting stance. She stood rigid for a moment more and she noticed Gunn wasn't moving.

"Charlie, quit messing around, I didn't dish out anything you couldn't take. We've sparred much harder than this before. Remember the old abandoned hotel on Wilshire? Charlie?"

Still no response. Was he even breathing? Faith quickly fell to her knees beside Gunn. She rolled him over only to be grabbed and rolled, pinned underneath him.

"Gotcha" he said and kissed the tip of her nose.

"You ASS! I thought I had hurt you. You're really lucky that I like you, otherwise I'd serve you up a royal ass kicking on a silver platter." She said, struggling to move from underneath him.

"Get off of me, before I REALLY do hurt you!"

"Like, huh? That's not what you said this morning. You know when you were, how is it they say it in those trashy romance novels you read, caught in the throws of passion. Why is it the only time you tell me you love me is when we're in bed, Faith?"

"Like, Love, it's all the same. You know I do, that's all that matters right?"

"For a girl that spends her spare time reading romance novels, you have a serious lack of knowledge in that department. You know it's not the same thing, Faith. For once, I'd like to hear you tell me you love me, in broad daylight, when we're not fucking like rabbits."

She stood there for a moment, staring at him as if he had just stung her with a hot poker. She didn't know what to say. So she turned on her heel and walked to the door of the apartment.

"Where are you going, Faith?"

"I'm gonna go patrol. After that, who knows." She said with a shrug.

"Don't wait up, Charlie Boy."

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As Booth drove back to the Hyperion, he couldn't get what Buffy had said out of his head. The truth of the matter was his whole life had changed within the last 24 hours, even if he wasn't willing to admit it. He had met one hell of a girl who went on about the supernatural, and how he reminded her of her dead lover. He had been thinking that Hodgins would have a blast with Buffy that he didn't notice the girl stepping absently off the sidewalk right into traffic, until he heard Buffy scream.

His SUV came to a screeching halt in front of the terrified girl. He had come mere inches from hitting her. He studied her for a moment, she was about the same height and build as Buffy, but she had brown hair and the biggest pair of doe eyes he'd seen. She seemed shocked, but more so, she was pissed.

"Motherfucker" she swore, before storming to the driver side of the car. She had fully intended to give the asshole that almost hit her a piece of her mind, and then he got out of the car and she damn near fainted on the spot.

"Angel?" She said, shocked to see the man that had given her a chance so long ago, standing in front of her now.

"No, although I've heard it so often within the last few hours I may start answering to it, involuntarily." he said, with an agitated tone to his voice.

"Faith, oh my god, what the hell are you doing walking blindly into traffic?" Buffy asked.

"B? What the hell are you doing, were you in the car with this guy? What's going on?"

"Booth, Faith. Faith, Agent Seeley Booth. He's a guest at the hotel. Now that you've been introduced, may I have a word with you for a moment?"

Buffy grabbed Faith by the arm and dragged her to the passenger side of the SUV. Booth got in and rolled down the window.

"I'm just gonna pull right over there, out of the way. I'll wait for you." he told Buffy.

She nodded in agreement and watched Faith stare in awe at the SUV pulling off.

"How did it happen, B? When did he come back?" 

"I'm not sure yet, that's what I'm trying to figure out."

"Well, what's the sitch so far?"

"He says his name is Agent Seeley Booth and he's a special agent for the FBI. He's staying at the Hyperion, with his partner Temperance Brennan. She was the special guest speaker for the Anthropology conference being held there this week. Anyway, I ran into him, literally, yesterday morning. I don't have any other details yet, but I'm working on it."

"Ok. So where ya headed?"

"Back to the hotel." Buffy said, trying not to let on why they were headed back to the hotel, in such a hurry. Nothing got passed Faith though.

"Uh huh, I see. So you two horny toads almost commit vehicular homicide just to get into each others pants. Mr. Toad's wild ride that good, huh?"

"Oh My God!" Buffy exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "It's not even gotten that far, yet…"

"Oh, but it will, I can tell by that gleam in your eye, B" Faith said, giving Buffy a playful punch to the shoulder.

As Buffy and Faith were talking a homeless woman came running from an adjacent building an into an alley, screaming for help. A gang of about 5 vampires were after her.

"Well, B, looks like it's time to go work."

"Yeah, looks like. Great, what the hell am I supposed to do about….."

Before Buffy could finish her sentence Booth had jumped out of his vehicle, gun drawn.

"Buffy, I'm going after them. You need to stay here and call 911." And he took off across the street.

"Oh, this," Buffy said pointing in the direction Booth had run, "this is just great!"

She and Faith took off after him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

As Buffy and Faith rounded the corner into the alley they were met with the sight of Booth, trying to hold off the vampires from the woman.

"What the hell is wrong with your faces? Are you guys in some kind of weird LA cult?" he asked the lead vampire.

The vamp chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that, and you my friend are about to get initiated."

"Uh, I think you should know, I don't take too kindly to vamps picking on my date." Buffy said.

"Buffy, you have to get out of here." Booth said, fear for her emanating in his voice.

"Hey Lover Boy, me and B, we got this. You get the ole lady to safety." Faith said.

"Slayers!" one of the vamps hissed.

"Damn straight! Say good night, bitches!" Faith said with a taunting smile.

"All, right! Good night, BITCHES!" The main vamp said with a growl

Buffy and Faith readied themselves, both in fighting stance standing back to back. As the first vamp attacked, Faith flipped him over to the ground, while Buffy kicked another on-comer into the wall. Both girls staked their two vamps, simultaneously.

"All right boys, the rest of you wanna play?" Buffy asked, returning to her previous position at Faith's back.

The main vamp stepped forward, "you two, take the brunette. I want the blonde for myself." he said, cocking his head from side to side.

"Well," Buffy said, "you know what they say, blondes do have more fun."

As the two vamps charged Faith, Buffy didn't wait for her opponent to make his move. She took off running, and sprang of some trash cans to the top of a dumpster.

"Looks like I get the upper hand." She said, kicking her opponent in the face.

As he staggered back, she jumped on his shoulders, wrapping her legs around his neck and twisting her body to propel him into a stack of crates. She rose to one knee in time to see Booth rounding the corner. No time to deal with him now. She jumped to her feet and made her way to where the main vamp was struggling to get up. As she reached her destination, the vamp sent a forceful kick in her direction, knocking her 15 feet or so down the alley.

"Buffy, NO!" Booth yelled, and took off down the alley towards the vamp. He still had his gun drawn and he fired a round, straight into the vamps shoulder. The vamp just laughed, maniacally.

"Stupid, worthless human, guns don't do shit to vampires."

"No, but it's funny how pointy pieces of wood do." Buffy said, right before she staked the vamp from behind.

Booth stopped dead in his tracks as he watched the guy that had just assaulted Buffy turn into dust before his eyes.

"Duck!" Buffy said as she sent her stake flying into the chest of a vamp heading their direction, right over Booth's barely lowered head.

Faith dusted the other vamp and turned to see Booth looking back and forth from one girl to the other.

"Will one of you please explain to me exactly what is going on here?" he asked.

"I'll be glad to when we get back to the hotel." Buffy said. "Faith, you okay?"

"You know me, B, five by five!"

"Good, you need a ride or anything?"

"Actually, I'd be grateful if you could put me up in a room for the night. Had a slight misunderstanding with Charlie Boy and I ain't exactly feeling up to an all night patrol right now."

"Sure, let's go." Buffy said, stopping to grab a hold of Booth's hand to pull him along.

As they rode back to the hotel, Buffy studied Booth. He looked pissed, really, really pissed, but he kept calm. She wondered what he was thinking. The day had been going so well and now here they were, barely 9:00pm and it was sure to bomb after this.

They pulled into the lot for the Hyperion. Buffy and Faith got out while Booth remained in the car for a moment longer. Buffy turned to Faith and told her to go on in and get a key from the girl at the front desk. They all knew by now that Faith was a welcome guest there and there was no need for approval from Buffy.

Buffy turned to see if Booth was coming and what she saw threw her for a loop. He was sitting in his SUV, head bowed, praying. She turned back to face the hotel, as if to give him more privacy.

Booth got out, walked around to the front of the car where Buffy was standing and took her hand. She turned to look at him, expecting him to say him to say something, instead he kissed her.

It was a fierce kiss, laced with anger, passion and possession. He fisted his hand in her hair at the nape of her neck, while holding her tightly against him with his other arm. At first she struggled to get away, but that only made him hold her more tightly, almost crushing her. Buffy gave into her passion, she kissed him in return, forcefully. Booth broke away, to get a look at her. He had thought she was hurt, seriously hurt when he saw the guy kick her down the alley. He proceeded to check her face for any bruising, he ran his hands up and down her arms, checking for any slight give away that she was hurt.

"You're okay." He breathed. " I thought you might be hurt, but you're okay."

Before she had time to respond he was kissing her again, a tad gentler this time, but still just as consuming as the first. She let her arms drift up and wrap around his neck, savoring every moment of his kiss. Her desire was pooling in the depths of her stomach, and trickling down. God, she wanted him, she needed him. It had been so long, so very long since she had felt this way.

"Let's go in" she said, tugging on his hand to lead the way.

As they made their way through the lobby towards the elevator, Booth wrapped her in his embrace, clutching to her as though if he let go, she would disappear.

Their passionate kissing resumed the moment the elevator doors closed. She reached into her back pocket and retrieved her key card. Just as she closed her fingers around it, she heard the ding, indicating they had arrived on the 4th floor. Before she could turn to the doors, Booth swept her up, into his arms and carried her down the hallway to her room.

He let her slide the card in the door before he resumed kissing her once more. Once inside her hotel room he set her down upon the bed and proceeded to occupy the space beside her. As he kissed her once more, her hands found their way to the buttons on his shirt. She deftly began with the top button and worked her way down, revealing a broad expanse of his muscular chest. As her hands touched his flesh, he let out a sharp intake of breath, as if she had burned him with her touch.

In response to her lead, Booth ran his hands down her back to the hem of her shirt. When they reached their destination his fingertips skimmed a small amount of flesh at her back. His hands stayed for a moment before they found their way to her stomach. Buffy sighed as his hands roamed her body, touching and caressing her all over.

They explored one another into the wee hours of the morning. Touching, kissing, holding and loving each other as if the night they had spent together was their last night on earth. Both of them taking turns making love to the other, it was almost perfect.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Buffy awoke to an empty bed the next morning. "Great," she grumbled, "just great. Why is it every time I sleep with him, he's gone the next morning. This trend has really got to stop."

She rubbed her eyes, yawned, stretched one good time and stumbled her way toward the bathroom. She should be angry, but she had kind of figured ahead of time she wouldn't wake up in his arms. She brushed her teeth and hopped in the shower. She needed to get ready to make arrangements to get back to Scotland. She and Willow had a lot of research to do.

As she walked back to her bedroom, something on her desk caught her eye. What she saw took her breath away. There, sitting upon her desk was a dozen peach roses. She walked over to them, admired their beauty and picked one up to give it a sniff. She closed her eyes and savored the aroma and let the rose linger upon her cheek for a moment. She looked back at the desk and found a large envelope sitting there also. Setting the rose back in the vase she made quick work of the envelope to reveal it's contents. There was a letter and a sketch, of a man and a woman, both holding swords that crossed, staring into each others eyes. Buffy remembered that moment, all too well. That was right before she had killed him and sent him to hell. It had to be another memory.

She sat the sketch down and reached for the letter. She carried it to her bed and sat down.

_Dear Buffy,_

_It's not often that I do something like this. I don't make a habit of sleeping with gorgeous, incredibly strong women and then leave them to wake alone. But, I had an early flight this morning that couldn't be missed. If you watch the news this morning, you'll understand why._

_I just wanted you to know, last night was one of the most unbelievable nights of my life. I would love to repeat it sometime, without the vampire wannabes, or possibly have an all new one. If you are ever in DC, I hope that you look me up. Actually, that's kind of a lie, I hope that you come to DC to look me up. Either way, I really want to keep in touch._

_I hope that you like the roses. They reminded me of you and a beautiful sunrise, both of which I watched this morning. If you are wondering about the sketch, it was another dream I had, for the hour that I slept anyway. I don't know why I left it, it just seemed like something that belonged to you. _

_Remember to keep in touch._

_Seeley Booth_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Booth laid his head back upon the seat of the plane and sighed.

"Are you thinking about that girl again?" Brennan asked.

"Buffy, the girl's name is Buffy and yeah, I was. That obvious, huh?"

"Just a little. You are usually so relaxed in your environment, but right now, you seem cagy, like you aren't comfortable with yourself. How is it that one day with a strange woman does that to you?"

"I don't know, but she's one hell of a woman." He said with a smile, remembering the events of last night.

"Are you going to see her again?"

"I don't know, but I'd like to. I would definitely like to." Booth said, grinning once again like a school boy with a crush.

"Was the sex that amazing? I don't think I've ever seen you with a permanent grin on your face?"

"That's just it Bones, it wasn't just about sex. It was so much more. I feel really connected to Buffy, like we've been to hell and back together. I know, it's not rational, but it's how I feel. I could see things about her that no one else could see. She's not just beautiful physically, everything about her is beautiful."

"Well, you know that I'm not one to understand human emotions. I could sit here and philosophize the whole trip back to DC, but I really don't think it would make a difference. You seem really stuck on Buffy Summers, I'll leave it at that. So, you ready to get back to work?"

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be. I'm gonna try and catch some shut eye. I didn't get much sleep last night, if you catch my drift."

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"Breaking News out of Washington DC this morning. A group of maintenance workers for the National Mall and Memorial Parks discovered a badly mutilated body this morning somewhere in the vicinity of the Lincoln Memorial. We have no other details at this time, but the National Park Security and Washington DC authorities have scheduled a press conference for later this afternoon. We here at CNN will keep you posted on the updates." 

Buffy turned off the TV and sat down on the foot of her bed. She had dressed, packed and ate. She was just waiting for the taxi to take her to the airport. She hated flying the 16 some odd hours it took to get back to Scotland. She really wished that the main base of operations could be moved back to the United States, but with parts of the US government viewing them as a possible terrorist threat, that was pretty much impossible. She had a time trying to get the permits she needed to remodel the Hyperion. Fortunately she had made a few friends in high places and even a few with the government and they had gotten her the permits she needed. They had even secured her a bit of privacy, even though she knew she was being watched constantly. She wondered how Big Brother felt about her spending the night with one of their special agents.

The phone on the desk rang and Buffy startled. She got up and answered it on the second ring.

"Miss Summers, your taxi is here to take you to the airport."

"Thanks Danny, I'll be down in a moment."

Buffy grabbed her carry on and rolling suitcase and headed towards the door. She stopped to take a quick look around the room, making sure she didn't forget anything. As she surveyed the room, her eyes came to rest on the coral colored roses Booth had left her. She smiled, sat down her bags and made her way back to the table they set upon. She picked out one, held it to her nose once more and then walked over to the desk with it. She opened the drawer and took out a small pink ribbon, scissors and a safety pin. She cut the length of the stem from the rose, tied the ribbon around the small stem that was left and pinned it to her white jacket. Now she was ready to go.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

When Booth and Bones reached DC they hurried to the Lincoln Memorial. The site that met them was horrible.

"Well, Bones, time to work your magic. Whaddya got?"

"Appears to be a Caucasian female, possibly in her late teens, early twenties. Very muscular. The severed areas appear to have been performed with a surgical instrument and she's been drained of her blood. She also been bathed. This scene was staged Booth. It's eerily similar to the Black Dahlia Murder from 1947."

"The Black Dahlia, it's possible we've got a copycat on our hands here. That's a hugely popular cult case. I've heard that if you ever get involved with it, it's almost impossible to stop. People have ruined their lives trying to solve that case. Could be some whacko decided to recreate the murder." Booth said

"Well, there really isn't much I can do here. You know I don't work with flesh. Unless it's bones, I really can't help. I think you need to call Cam and get it set up to have her transported back to the lab."

As Brennan finished her sentence his cell phone rang. "That's probably her now, wanting to know if we've made the scene yet."

He looked at the number and it wasn't one he recognized. "Hello?"

"Hello, Agent Booth. I got your note and your flowers. They were amazing, it almost makes up for waking up alone."

"Buffy, hi." Booth said with a grin.

Brennan rolled her eyes and motioned for him to get off the phone. They were in the middle of a case, this was no time to socialize.

"I'm really glad you liked them. Listen, Buffy, this is kind of a bad time. Did you see the news this morning?

"Yea."

"Well, I'm on the scene right now, so I've gotta get back to work. Now that I've got your number, can I give you a call this evening?"

"Well, um, I've got a 16 hour flight back to Scotland, so I'll probably be in the air. Tell you what. I've got a layover in Newark at 4:30 till 6:00. Call me then?"

"You got it babe. I'll talk to ya then. Bye."

"Bye."

Booth looked up to find Brennan frowning at him.

"What, it was a short call. She didn't know I'd be here right now."

"Let's get back to work."

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Buffy got off her plane at Newark and made her way to the restroom. She'd been needing to go for like an hour, but she hated using airplane bathrooms.

Once she finished up there, she headed over to the nearest bar and sat down.

"What can I get you miss?"

"I'll have a cosmopolitan please."

"Coming right up" the bartender replied.

Buffy reached into her purse and pulled out her cell, and set it on the bar in front of her. She looked up at the TV to see an empty podium with the headline on the screen reading: _Breaking News; Press Conference about body found at Lincoln Memorial._

"Could you turn that up please?" She asked the bartender

"Sure thing, miss."

Booth appeared at the podium along with a few more officers and a female with brown hair. One of the men with him stepped up to the podium and began to speak.

"This morning at approximately 4:30am the body of a young female was found outside of the Lincoln Memorial, near the Reflecting Pool. We believe the victim is a young girl, between the ages of 18-22. As of right now, we are not releasing any details on the condition of her body, other than she was severely mutilated. The body is being transported to the Jeffersonian Museum where it will undergo extensive lab analysis. Our first step is to determine her identity and we will go from there. Thank you for your time."

The bartender turned the TV back down and returned to filling glasses.

Buffy's cell began to ring and she looked down to see who it was. She quickly answered it.

"I just saw you on TV. I have to say you look really good when you're being Special Agent Seeley Booth."

"Well, that's good to know. How was your flight from LA?"

"Boring. I mostly slept."

"Look, this is gonna sound crazy, but why don't you stay with me tonight? It feels so wrong having you so close and not being able to be with you. I can have you here in an hour and you can postpone your flight till in the morning. Whaddya say?"

"I don't know. Tell you what, let me think about it and I'll call you back in a minute, ok?"

"Ok. But I hope you say yes. Bye"

Buffy set her cell back down and took a sip of her cosmopolitan. She checked her watch, it was 5:00. There really wasn't enough time to make other arrangements. Besides she really needed to get back to Scotland. As she reached for her phone there was a loud thwack of thunder and the bottom seemed to all of a sudden fall from the sky. Buffy peered out the airport windows.

"That's weird, a freak storm out of no where."

Just then her cell phone beeped, she flipped it open and read the text stating that her flight had been cancelled due to mechanical problems with the plane.

"Okay, this is really weird, it's like two signs telling me to stay."

She hit the send button on her phone and waited while it rang Booth's number.

"So, have you made your decision."

"Actually, it's almost like it was made for me. My flight was cancelled due to mechanical issues with the plane. Looks like I'm staying with you in DC tonight. How are we getting me there?"

"I work for the United States Government young lady. I've got my ways. Tell me where you're at in the airport."

"O'Brien's Pub."

"Hold tight and I'll see you in about an hour, okay?"

"Okay."

An hour and a half and 4 cosmos later Buffy checked her watch for the hundredth time in 15 minutes. He did say an hour, didn't he? She should have stopped with the 4 cosmos, but she ordered one more, hoping that Booth would show up soon because she didn't know if she'd be sober enough to find a hotel. As she sat there drinking two men dressed in black suits and wearing dark sunglasses approached her.

"Miss" one of them said after tapping her on the shoulder.

"Yes, can I help you?" Buffy asked.

"Miss, we need you to come with us." The guy said, flashing a badge at her.

The other one spoke, "We are with the Department of Homeland Security and we have a matter we would like to discuss with you."

"You have got to be kidding me. When are you guys gonna learn to give it up?" The two mean looked at one another. "All right, I'll go with you." she said.

They led Buffy down the corridor, one standing on each side of her, to the security office. They told her to sit down for a moment and they would be right with her. Buffy sat in a chair and wondered how Booth would find her now.

"Miss, come this way." One of the men had appeared and motioned for her to follow him through a door.

The door led down a long hallway to another door. As the guy opened it, Buffy heard what sounded like a helicopter. As she walked out her suspicions were confirmed as there was a helicopter sitting right in front of her. Another man in black walked up, carrying her checked baggage and loaded it onto the helicopter.

As Buffy stood there, wondering what was going on she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist.

"Your chariot awaits, my lady." Booth said in her ear, kissing her lightly on the neck.

She turned in his arms and smacked him lightly on the chest. She turned her face up to look at him giving him a grin.

"This is all you? I thought I was being detained as some national threat to Homeland Security. I should totally kick your ass for giving me a heart attack."

"We'll get to that later. Let's go."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean you're in the middle of a big case right now. What if I'm a distraction from your work?"

"Well, actually, that's the point. Sometimes you need a bit of a distraction. Besides, it's only for one night, right?"

"Ok" Was all she said.

Booth pressed his hand into the small of her back, urging her towards the copter. He stood behind her while she climbed in and then he ran around to the front to get in. After putting on his head gear and belting in he turned to Buffy and said "Okay, we're off."

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"Hey Will, we got a problem." Xander said as he stormed into her room.

"What's up?"

"Andrew received a call last week from a girl in the Washington DC area that had seen his slayer commercial. After interviewing her over the phone he seemed pretty certain she was a slayer and he flew out to meet her. When he got to the rendezvous this morning, she wasn't there. He's called every contact he's got for her and no one has seen her in a couple of days."

"So, basically what you're saying is we have a rogue slayer on our hands."

"Yeah, basically. Look isn't Buffy overseas, think she's up to the task?"

"She's supposed to be on her way back over here, but I got a text from her saying she was being held over in DC tonight. What a coininkydink huh?"

"Well, the Buffster's always had great timing. Want me to call her and fill her in?"

"Sure, uh, no wait. I'll do it. I've got some things I need to discuss with her, girl things. You've briefed me, so anything else you got, send me and email. I'll also need an email with Andrew's contact information so I can forward it to Buffy.

"You got it, ole Wise One."

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By the time they reached Booth's apartment it was almost 9:00. Buffy was exhausted from the day. As they pulled into the garage for Booth's building her cell phone rang.

"Hey Buffy, sorry to bother you, but we've got a situation here."

"What's up, Will?"

Willow filled her in on the whole rogue slayer dilemma and told her she'd forwarded everything she'd need to her email.

"All right, Will, I'll check in with you tomorrow, bye" Buffy said. She snapped her phone shut and dropped it back in her purse.

"Well, looks like I'm gonna be in DC longer than expected." She told Booth.

"Really what's up?" He asked as he turned off the ignition.

"Work. Do you remember I told you that I help run a school for special girls in Scotland. Well, one of my partners had a meeting with a potential student this morning and the girl is missing. She's from the DC area, so since I'm all ready here, I'm on the case."

"Well, I have to say that this is just turning into my lucky week. I meet a wonderful woman, and looks like I'm going to get to spend all week with her. When we're both not working, that is. Well, you ready to go on up?"

They took the elevator up to his apartment. This ride had been much tamer than the last. Booth had wrapped his arm around her shoulders while she encircled his waist with her own. She had let her head rest on his chest, listening to his heart beat as the elevator rode to his floor. It was a good sound, she liked it. It was almost like a lullaby, for she found herself yawning and straining to keep her eyes open.

Booth led her down the hallway to his apartment and opened the door. He set her luggage in his bedroom and showed her where the bathroom was. While he was waiting on her to finish up in the bathroom, he laid down on his bed.

Buffy brushed her teeth, and freshened up a bit. She walked out of the bathroom and looked down the hall towards his bedroom. She could make him out lying on his bed. She walked through the door and she heard him lightly snoring. He was asleep. She walked around to the opposite side of the bed, kicked off her shoes and crawled into the bed next to him. Grabbing a throw from the end of the bed she put it over both of them. She curled up next to him and lay her head down on his chest. How many times had they lain like this together? It was the perfect way to fall asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

They both woke the next morning to the shrill ring of the cell phones. Buffy yawned and looked up at Booth. He was smiling down at her. He kissed her on her forehead.

"Looks like it's time for both of us to go to work. Would you like anything special for breakfast. I make one hell of an omelet."

"I think I'd like that, but what I'd like way more is a cup of coffee." She said rolling over to get out of bed.

"You got it. Go ahead and jump in the shower. I should return this call and I'll make you some coffee. I can drop you anywhere you need to go, just let me know." He said and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

Buffy took a quick shower and dressed. When she came into the living room the wonderful aroma of coffee and omelets hit her. She could totally get used to this. Booth was standing at the kitchen counter, finishing up his breakfast. She walked over and looked at the food.

"Looks delish. What time do we need to leave?" She asked him

He looked at his watch, "we need to be out in 30 minutes. I'm gonna go jump in the shower and get dressed. Enjoy your breakfast."

He turned left. Buffy grabbed her plate and cup of coffee and carried them to the small dinette set Booth had in his kitchen. She needed to read the emails Willow had sent so she got her laptop set it up on the table. She was in the middle of eating and had just began reading her email when her cell phone rang. It was Andrew, wondering if she had been briefed on the situation. She told him she had and they decided to meet in an hour.

"Why don't we meet where you and," Buffy checked the girl's name in her email, "Julia were supposed to meet. We can start from there."

"We were supposed to meet at FDR memorial park. It close to the Lincoln Memorial, you should be able to find it."

"Ok, Andrew, I'll see you then."

Buffy hung up the phone and began opening the attachments in the email. The first was the application Julia had filled out and sent to Andrew. The next was a picture of the girl. She was very gothic looking, with black hair, dark eye make up and bright red lips. She had the classic 1940's pinup look to her. As she was studying the girl's picture, Booth approached her from behind. He set his hands upon her shoulders and leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Ready to go?" He asked. It was then that he glanced at Buffy's laptop, seeing the picture of Julia.

"Buffy, who is that girl?" He said pointing to the picture of Julia

"That's Julia Spencer, the girl I told you about last night, why?"

"Because, Buffy. That's the girl we found at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday."

Buffy turned to look at him, shock registering on her face. This girl, one of her slayers, was the mutilated body that was found yesterday. Oh, this so wasn't good.

"Oh, this so isn't good."

"Look, Buffy. I can't believe I even have to say this, but I'm gonna have to take you down for some questioning. So you need to cancel any plans you had today, ok."

"Questioning, sure, ok. Look, I may not be much help, so you may want to stop and pick up my associate. He'll be able to fill you in on anything you need to know about her.

"Sure, just give me his name and where I can find him."

"His name is Andrew Wells and we were supposed to meet at FDR Memorial Park. He's probably all ready there by now."

"All right then, let's get going."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Andrew stood on the sidewalk, looking out over the grassy area to the Potomac River. He watched the many joggers and bicyclists going about their daily lives without even sparing him a glance. He was just beginning to wonder what was taking Buffy so long when an SUV pulled up beside him.

"Are you Andrew Wells?" Booth asked

Andrew turned to give a response and was shocked to see Angel standing there, in the mid-morning sun.

"Well, I mean, why not, Spike lived so of course you'd wanna copy him." Andrew said, rolling his eyes.

"Excuse me, but before we go any further I am NOT Angel, I know, we could be twins, but I'm not him. Now, are you gonna answer my question, are you Andrew Wells?"

"Yea, geez. I'm Andrew. What exactly is going on?"

"You and I have a mutual friend in common and she thinks you could be some help with a case I'm working on."

Andrew looked around for a second, searching for any sign of Buffy. This encounter was getting weird and he didn't want her running into Angel's human stunt double. It was then that he noticed Buffy, sitting in the front seat of the SUV.

"Oh, you're talking about Buffy then. This so is not good. Do I need to call a lawyer or something, because you're looking pretty serious."

"That's your discretion, but you're not under arrest, I just have a few questions for you and Buffy. Now, if you would kindly get in the SUV, we can get this over with."

"Sure, let's go." Andrew said with a sigh.

He got into the backseat behind Buffy.

"Hey there sister, how are things?" he asked

"Things have been better." She looked out the window, Booth was making a phone call.

"So what's going on, Buffy?"

"That girl that was found yesterday was Julia Spencer. Booth is an FBI agent, and he's taking us in for questioning."

"Oh my god! Shouldn't we call Giles, I mean, this is the US Government and you know they've had it in for us for a while. We may need legal representation or something. Oh, god, I can't go to the big house, again. I can't Buffy, I just can't."

"Shut up, Andrew. You're not going to go to jail. You know the deal, special school for gifted girls, you're the PR person. Tell them what you know about Julia and we're out of there. And under NO circumstances do you call Giles. Got it."

"Yea, sure. So, how long have you and Angel's stunt double been in cahoots?"

"I just met him on Monday. Look, don't mention anything about Angel. He doesn't know who he is yet and I'm all together sure either."

"So you think Mr. FBI out there is Angel? Wow. I guess stranger things have happened."

While Buffy and Andrew sat in the car, Booth was on the phone with Bones.

"Hey, Bones, I've got a lead on the girl. I know who she is and I've got two people I'm about to take in for questioning. Could you meet me at headquarters in about 30 minutes?" he asked, with a bit of dread lingering in his voice.

"Sure I'll be there. Are you ok? You sound distraught, did something happen with Buffy?" Temperance asked, with genuine concern for her partner.

"You could say that. Look, I'll fill in the blanks down at HQ, ok?"

"OK, Booth, I'll see you there.

Booth turned to walk back to the SUV when he was hit with a blinding pain in his head. He stumbled and clutched the side of the truck, trying to hold himself upright.

Buffy turned to see what had just hit the truck and she saw Booth, sliding to the pavement. She quickly opened the door and was at his side.

"Booth, what's going on, what happened?"

Booth struggled to find the words, "head, searing pain, ahhh" and he grabbed his head once more.

Buffy took his head in her hands, "is it a migraine? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

He looked up at Buffy and saw the concern for him etched on her face. Tears threatened to fall and her voice was trembling.

"Buffy" he said with a whisper.

"Yea, what is it, what's wrong?"

"I remember." And he passed out.

"Booth" she shook him, fear for him vibrating through her, "Booth, wake up! Booth!"

She turned and called for Andrew to call 911, which he was all ready doing. Booth said he remembered, what did he remember. Oh, god, what was going to happen now?


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Buffy paced the hallway outside the ER waiting room. They had been here for nearly two and a half hours and no one had given her any news on Booth. Andrew sat in the floor watching her pace.

"I'm sure he's fine, Buffy. They'll probably be out here any minute to let you know how he's doing." he said with a weak smile.

The truth was, they had ignored her pleas to go back and be with him. She had ridden in the ambulance with him, but once they reached the hospital, a nurse had ushered her into the waiting room, telling her they would give her an update soon. They had not and it seemed they would not.

"Miss Summers?"

Buffy turned to see the brunette woman that had been standing with Booth at the press conference.

"Yes." was all Buffy said, giving her a hard look.

"I'm Temperance Brennan, Booth's partner." she started to say more but was interrupted by Andrew.

"Temperance Brennan, the Temperance Brennan. Oh my god! I love your novels! I can't believe we're standing here, right now, in this moment." Andrew said with a cheesy grin.

"Uh, yeah" Brennan said, giving Buffy a questioning look at Andrew. Buffy shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Miss Summers…"

"Buffy."

"Buffy, then. Could I speak to you, for a moment, in private?" Brennan asked.

"Sure." Buffy said, and walked off down the hall a bit.

"Buffy, can you tell me what happened this morning?"

"Yea. We went to pick up Andrew, got there, Booth made a call, and then collapsed."

"When you picked up Andrew, where were you going?"

"We were on our way in to answer some questions about the girl that was found at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday."

"So, were you suspects then?" Brennan asked.

"Not as far as I know. We just had information on the girl, her identity and possibly a few contacts. She was an applicant for a school I run in Scotland."

As Temperance was about to ask more questions a doctor came out of the waiting room and looked down the hall. He saw the two women talking and approached them.

"Excuse me, which one of you ladies accompanied Mr. Booth here?"

"That would be me" Buffy said, giving him a somewhat cold look. "Buffy Summers."

"And you are?" he asked turning to Brennan

"Dr. Temperance Brennan, I'm Booth's partner."

"Well, ladies. Mr. Booth is wide awake and quite anxiously awaiting his departure. We've done several tests, he's had a CAT scan and an MRI, trying to locate the source of his collapse. We've found nothing. He's a very healthy young man. I wanted to keep him overnight for observation, but he protested so I'm going to let him go home. He needs to rest for a few days. I can only imagine that in your line of work, Dr. Brennan, he is under a lot of stress. Sometimes stress can cause things like this. So, plenty of rest for him. Now, Ms. Summers, he is adamantly requesting your presence. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to him."

Buffy turned to give Brennan a questioning look. Brennan just gave her a warm smile and motioned for her to follow the doctor. Buffy smiled in return and hurried down the hall.

Once inside the ER, the doctor pointed to a row of rooms, with curtains for doors.

"He's behind curtain number one. I'm going to finish his paperwork. I'll return shortly to let you guys go." The doctor said, with a very kind smile.

"Thank you." Buffy said and walked quickly to the first curtain.

As she pulled it back, she was a little surprised to see him standing, buttoning his shirt.

"Need some help?" She asked with a nervous smile.

She walked over and attempted to take over for him, but her hands were shaking fiercely. He placed his one large hand over both of her small ones, to stay them. With his other hand, he took her chin and urged her to look up at him. He had tears in his eyes and she responded with tears of her own. He took his hand and wiped away the tears on one cheek, caressing it as he did. She leaned into his caress and closed her eyes.

"Buffy" he whispered, "I remember. Everything. I was in heaven Buffy, but I was unhappy. I had redeemed my soul, but my soul ached to be with yours. I watched you search for me, cry for me and it hurt. It hurt that once again, I was causing you so much pain. What good was heaven, Buffy, if I knew you were so unhappy here?"

Buffy lost all control. She fell against his chest and cried. She cried for the years they had lost, and she cried for the memories that he had regained. Angel wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly while she wept.

After a moment, she leaned back, her face wet with tears and asked "So does this mean that I can call you Angel, now?"

He chuckled and said, "Baby, you can call me whatever you like. Technically, I'm still Seeley Booth. I'm a human man with a human identity, but my heart and soul, Buffy, they are all Angel."

"Good." she said with a smile and reached up to kiss him.

"Ahem."

They turned to see the doctor standing there.

"You're all ready to go, Mr. Booth. Just remember what I said", he paused to look at Buffy, "get plenty of rest the next couple of days and then you can go back to work. Just remember in high times of stress try to do at least one relaxing thing, okay?"

"Thank you sir, for all your help." Angel said, extending his hand to the doctor.

"Your welcome, now, get home with this lovely girl, so she can take good care of you." the doctor said with a wink, and left.

"Angel, before we leave, Dr. Brennan is in the hallway. What are we going to do?"

"We'll do what we started to do this morning, I'll take you and Andrew down for questioning and we'll leave. Once we get the answers we need, we will go. Be honest, just leave out slayer stuff. I'll lead you whenever I can, ok? Don't worry, baby, we'll handle it." he said and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

"All right the, let's get this show on the road, and then get you home for some good ole R&R." she said.

When they entered the waiting room they saw Andrew talking excitedly to Brennan. She didn't look amused. When she turned and saw Booth walking to them, relief flooded her face. She took a step towards Buffy and Booth and stopped. She observed them for a moment. He was walking with his arm around Buffy, while she leaned into his embrace. They looked happy. Both had smiles on their faces. They looked very much in love. Deep within her, Brennan hoped she would one day find that kind of love. She hadn't been all together sure it existed until now, watching Buffy and Booth together. Seeing these two, there was no denying it.

"Bones, good to see you. Sorry I had to cancel our interrogation date this morning, but something came up."

"Booth. Well, good to see you're alive. Are we on our way back to headquarters then?"

"Yep, and then I'm going home to get some rest. Doctor's orders."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cordelia smiled to herself. She had intended to let Angel get his memories back a little at a time, but when she saw that he was taking Buffy into FBI headquarters, she had to intervene. Buffy and Andrew would have had a hard time concealing the supernatural to the US government. Especially when parts of it viewed Buffy as a terrorist threat.

"How is everything going?"

"Perfect, Wesley, just perfect."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Angel led Buffy and Andrew into a room with a table and a couple of chairs. It looked just like the sort of interrogation room you would see on a TV crime drama. The 4 of them sat with Angel and Brennan on one side of the table, Buffy and Andrew on the other.

"Ok, Miss Summers, let's begin with how you know the deceased, Julia Spencer." Brennan asked.

"I run a school for 'gifted' girls in Scotland. Miss Spencer had seen one of our commercials and contacted our representative, Mr. Wells. I never actually met Julia. Andrew was supposed to meet with her and bring her back to Scotland, but she never showed. That's when I was called in. I'm also a private investigator, and they called me in to find her."

"Ok, so you run a school for 'gifted' girls. What is 'gifted' exactly?" Angel asked.

"The girls that attend my school come from all walks of life, but mainly have one thing in common. They are troubled. They've found themselves on the wrong side of the law more than once. I take them in and give them a new start at life. I was one of those girls, Agent Booth. When I was 16, two people gave me a new lease on life and helped me turn things around. I just want to do the same for these girls."

"Mr. Wells, when you talked with Julia, did she mention anything about her home life?" Brennan asked.

"Well, she said she had been in and out of the foster system for years. When I first spoke to her, she was about to turn 18 and wished to go to Scotland to start over. I asked her if she was with a family now and she said she had been placed with a high profile political family two years ago. She knew that when she turned 18 they would turn her out of their home, so that's why she contacted me. Yesterday was her 18th birthday, we were scheduled to meet that morning and leave at her discretion, but she never showed."

As Brennan was about to ask another question, a man barged into the interrogation room.

"Excuse me, but I have to ask that any questioning that has to do with Miss Summers is to be immediately directed to me. Special Agent Riley Finn, Department of Homeland Security." he said, flashing his badge.


	17. Chapter 17

**_Thanks to Mac for pointing this out. I thought I would put a disclaimer here:_**

**_disclaimer: Parker's mother is not who it is on Bones. I changed the situation to better suit my story. Just wanted to clarify before you guys went anyfurther, or for those of you who have all ready read this chapter and went "Huh?"._**

**Chapter 17**

"I'm sorry, I don't care who you are, you can't just barge in here like that." Brennan said.

Angel turned to her, "Look, Brennan, it's ok. I know Agent Finn. Why don't you take Andrew to get a cup of coffee, while I talk with Buffy and Agent Finn, ok."

"Are you sure, Booth? Something about this doesn't seem right." She said, eying Finn.

"Absolutely."

"Wait, Riley, you're the Riley. Oh, we so don't wanna go, Dr. Brennan. I personally don't want to miss a second of this."

Both Angel and Buffy shouted "Andrew!"

With that, he hurried to the other side of the table to stand next to Brennan, she just rolled her eyes and motioned for him to follow her.

"What the hell are you doing, Finn?" Angel asked

"Miss Summers has been under surveillance by the Department of Homeland Security for a while now. Any kind of questioning is to be done by me, our case takes precedence, since this is a matter of US Security, Agent Booth."

Buffy gave Riley a puzzled look, "You know, Agent Booth?"

"Of course. Why?"

"Have you taken a good look at him, Riley, who does he look like?"

"Well," Riley turned to look at Angel, "he looks a lot like Angel."

"That's because I am Angel."

"What? That can't be. I have memories, of you, from basic training." Riley looked at Buffy, "how can this be?"

"We haven't gotten the specifics yet. Those memories you have were most likely fabricated, put into your mind by whoever brought Angel back."

"It's been known to happen before, especially where Buffy and I are involved." Angel said.

Riley looked from Buffy to Angel and back again. When he had found out she had been taken into government custody, he had been worried. He pulled some pretty big strings to get her turned over to his custody. He couldn't believe Seeley Booth, the man he'd trained with and palled around with the last few years, was Angel. Turning his gaze back to Angel he asked, "How long have you known?"

"I just remembered today. It's really the strangest thing, all of my 'Angel' memories are intertwined with the 'Booth' memories. So, while I know you as a friend, I also have this uncontrollable urge to knock you out." Angel said, chuckling.

At that comment the three of them laughed. Riley sat down and looked at Buffy.

"So, you're ok then?"

"Right as rain. So tell me, when did you become part of the Homeland Security sect of the US government.?"

"About three years ago. Certain politicians realized that there was a need for someone with knowledge of demons to be involved. Especially when demons began hiring themselves out to terrorist groups."

"Wow, demon mercenaries huh? Guess they will take chaos and carnage wherever they can get it. How's Sam?"

"She, uh, she's good, I guess. I really don't know. We got divorced about a year ago. Something inside her snapped one day, said she couldn't take this life anymore. It was all to complicated. She said she wanted to disappear and at least pretend like she had a normal life. She also never got used to the fact that we had constant surveillance on you. She, thought…well, she thought I was still in love with you."

"Are you?" Angel asked

Riley looked at Angel, "I'd be lying if I said that I don't care for Buffy. Love her, of course I do, but I don't pine away for her. I came to the realization a long time ago that there is only one man she loves, and that man is you. But, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to help her out when I can. She's special, you know that better than anyone. I would never turn my back on her, and Sam, she just couldn't understand that."

"I'm sorry, Riley." Buffy said. She got up from her seat and rounded the table to stand between him and Angel. She took Riley's hand and repeated her statement, "I really am sorry. Thank you, for everything you've done. Now, can you tell me why I'm under government watch, 24/7?"

Before Riley could answer, Angel responded looking at Riley over the top of Buffy's head.

"Because you are an international demon magnet now. What better way to do you job than keep a constant eye on the most famous slayer in the world, right, Finn?"

"Pretty much."

Angel turned to see Brennan and Andrew sitting down in the waiting area outside the room. He looked back at Riley and asked, "what are we going to do about the questioning? Bones is strictly scientific, she most likely won't buy the truth. She's going to want to know why you're here."

"Tell her, I'm just an overprotective boyfriend and I wanted to make sure Buffy was ok. She should buy it, I mean, it is the truth." Riley said with a grin.

"You know what, I just decided, I really don't like you, Finn." Angel said with a stern look on his face.

Brennan knocked on the door.

"Are we going to be able to finish questioning now?"

"Yea, because Ugly Betty starts in about 20 minutes and I'd like to get back to the hotel so I can watch." Andrew chimed in behind her. He was really starting to irritate Brennan.

"Sure, let's finish up. Agent Finn has agreed to let us finish questioning if he can be present."

Brennan looked at Riley, an unease settled over her. Something about him made her nervous. She wasn't sure what it was and that scared her. She struggled to be sure about things in her life, because she had been lost for so long. That's why she loved science, it was sure and it was truth.

"Ok, where were we then?" Brennan asked, taking her seat.

"Julia Spencer's family, I believe." Buffy said.

"Oh, yea. Andrew, could you tell us who her foster family is?"

"Well, they had Julia's last name changed to the family name, so I'm assuming someone with the last name of Spencer. She never told me their names." Andrew said.

"You know, about two years ago, a Senator Spencer, from California was investigated in a high profile case of animal cruelty. PETA really had it out for this guy, but his slick lawyers at Wolfram and Hart got him off." Riley said.

At Riley's statement Angel paled a little.

"Did you say Wolfram and Hart?" he said.

"Booth, you act like you've never heard of them. They are the firm that got Senator Kelley off for the murder of his mistress last year. How could you forget, you were so mad." Brennan said.

Angel looked at Buffy worry for her on his face. Wolfram and Hart, it was starting all over again. He had been so stupid. All those years ago he thought by waging the war, he was helping her, protecting her and humanity. And now here they were, in Washington DC, a city full of myths, lies, deceit and corruption. The perfect breeding ground for evil.

"Booth, are you ok? You look like you're about to be sick" Brennan asked him, standing up to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess I just jumped back into work too fast, Bones. How about we call it quits for today and I'll go home and get that rest the doctor ordered. I think Buffy and Andrew have told us all they can anyway."

"Yea, ok, it's your call. I'm going to head back to the lab for an update. I'll talk to you later. Buffy, Agent Finn….Andrew, it was very nice to meet you."

"You to, Dr. Brennan." Buffy said.

Riley gave her a nod and Brennan left.

"Buffy, do you need a ride?" Riley asked.

"No, I'm staying with Angel, but you could give Andrew a ride to his hotel, that would help out a bunch." she said.

"Sure, all right, Fan boy, lets go."

After Riley and Andrew left, Angel sat in his chair, looking down at the floor.

"Angel, honey, let's go. We can talk about all of this at your place, ok?"

He looked at her then, seeing the concern for him etched on her face. How many times had he looked at her and seen that exact same look on her face? What was he going to do now that Wolfram and Hart had resurfaced? He was just starting to get somewhere and now it felt like the proverbial rug had been pulled from under him.

"Angel?"

"Yea, let's go."

He stood up, took Buffy's hand and led her out of the interrogation room. As they entered the waiting area, Angel was shocked to see his son and his son's mother standing there.

"Tessa, what's going on?"

"I need you to take Parker tonight. The new firm I'm working for has me flying up to Manhattan to take care of a case. I'll be back tomorrow night, it's just that the his nanny has the flu and can't take care of him.

Angel looked at his son, Wesley Parker Booth and thought of Connor. He gave Buffy an apologetic look, and walked over to Parker.

"Hey there little Wes, looks like you're all ready to go, huh?"

"Daddy, I don't like Wesley anymore, I just Parker now." Parker said with his hands planted firmly upon his hips. Buffy giggled at the statement.

"Ok, I'll call you whatever you want, little man."

"Ok, good." Parker said, giving his dad a smile. He then looked at Buffy and back at his dad and asked, "Daddy, who is the pretty lady you were holding hands with?"

"Well, son, that pretty lady is my very good friend Buffy Summers. She's in town for the weekend and she'll be staying at my house with us tonight, if that's ok with you?"

Parker walked over and stood in front of Buffy. He looked up into her face and she gave him a warm smile. She knelt down and gave him a handshake.

"How do you do, Parker, I'm Buffy."

"You're very pretty, and I like your eyes. They look like a pair of Mommy's sparkly earrings." He turned and looked back at his dad and told him it was ok with him if Buffy stayed there.

All right then, I'll pick him up tomorrow as soon as I get in, ok? Parker, come give Mommy a kiss."

As Tessa turned to leave Angel called out to her.

"Tess, you said you were working for a new firm, which one?"

"Wolfram and Hart." was her answer.


	18. Chapter 18

**_I just want to say thank you all so much for your very kind reviews! I'm so glad you are enjoying my story! This has been one heck of an adventure for me, and I hope you as well. There will probably be about 12 more chapters, my original plan was to wrap it up in 30 chapters. I like lengthy fics so I thought that would do it. I'm not sure the story will completely end there though, so I'm toying with the idea of a sequel or two when this one is done. I don't know, we'll just have to see if everything comes together nicely in 30 chaps or less. _**

**_Please, please keep up the reviews and suggestions and I'll keep writing. Your reviews are what encourage me to write more, so thank you, and until next time!_**

**_Lanie_**

**Chapter 18**

Angel rode in silence back to his apartment. Buffy and Parker chatted about all sorts of things, but Angel's mind kept drifting back to what Tessa had said. When had she started working for Wolfram & Hart? Did they know who he was?

"Angel? He'll be ok. I'll do everything within my power to protect him."

"How did you know?"

"I just know." She said, placing her hand on top of his.

"Why did you call my Daddy Angel, Buffy? That's not his name."

She turned in her seat to get a better look at Parker.

"Oh, it's just a nickname I call him. You know he saves lives and protects people, right?"

Parker nodded his head up and down.

"Well, angels do the same thing. Your Daddy has saved my life, more than once, so I call him Angel. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Buffy, what's a nictname?"

Buffy laughed, "A nickname is another name that you call someone, that's not their real name. Like when your Daddy calls you Little Man."

"Oh." he said and he seemed to think about that for a moment.

"Buffy, when we get to my Daddy's house, will you read me my bedtime story. I like you voice, it's pretty."

Buffy felt herself blush, "Parker, I'd be honored to read you a bedtime story."

"Kay, good."

"He seems to really like you." Angel said

"I really like him."

"I'm sorry we won't get some alone time tonight."

"It's ok. I mean, there's plenty of time for that. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon."

"So, you're done, then? Baking that is?"

"Oh Gods, of course you remember that! Yeah, I'm done baking. All ready to be served up and eaten. Where is Parker going to sleep? I only noticed one bedroom."

"Well, he usually sleeps with me, but I have a pull out sofa. We can put him down in my bed and we can sleep on the sofa-bed."

"How is Parker going to feel about that? Seeing his Daddy sleeping with someone that isn't his M-O-M-M-Y."

"Tessa and I haven't been together for awhile, Buffy. We never lived together. As far as how this new relationship is going to affect him, I guess I hadn't thought that far ahead. I mean, Tess has a live in boyfriend, so I don't see why it would be strange to him for me to have a girlfriend."

Buffy turned to look at Parker, and found he had fallen asleep. He was such a handsome little boy. He had his father's face and eyes and his mother's vibrant blonde hair. He looked much like she the children she had daydreamed about as a teenager, the ones she wanted with Angel. They now had the possibility of that happening.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Dr. Brennan, may I have a word with you?"

Brennan looked up to see Agent Finn, standing in the doorway of her office.

"If I said no, would you go away?"

"Probably not. Tell me, what did I do to rub you the wrong way. You've been cold to me ever since we met."

"I don't know, it could have something to do with the fact that the NSA is coming in and completely taking over our case. It didn't just stop with the questioning earlier. I came back to find that Julia Spencer's body had been moved to your labs at the Pentagon. Would you like to tell me why?"

"You know I can't give you specifics, Dr. Brennan. I'm really sorry, but it's my job. This murder case is linked to matters of National Security and that's were I come in. I know you are the best in your field, so I hope this isn't a matter of pride."

"Pr-ide" Brennan stammered, "Pride! You think this is a matter of my hurt pride? It has nothing to do with that, Agent Finn. It has to do with justice and wanting to see that poor girls murderer brought to it."

"Look, I didn't mean to offend you, again. Trust me, I want that just as much as you do. I'm just asking you to back off a little, ok. Look, if I promise to keep you frequently updated on this case, will you? Back off that is."

Brennan thought for a moment. Finn seemed sincere in all he was saying. She studied him a moment before answering.

"All right, Agent Finn, you've got a deal."

"Good. And Brennan, Riley, just call me Riley."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"And Baby owl said 'whooooooo's undressed and whoooooo's in bed? Whoooooooooo's awake and whoooooooooo's asleep?"

"I liked the Baby Animals, Buffy. That was silly."

"Good, I'm glad you liked them. This was one of mine and my sister Dawn's favorite books when we were little girls. Now, it's time for you to go to sleep. Goodnight."

"Buffy, will you give me a goodnight kiss, on my head? It will help me sleep."

Buffy was a bit taken aback by his request. Had he really accepted her that quickly all ready. Goodnight kisses were a very special thing.

"Sure, honey, whatever you'd like, little prince." and she kissed him sweetly on his forehead.

"Thank you, Buuuffy." Parker said with a yawn.

"Goodnight." and she gave him a pat on the cheek and turned off the bedside lamp.

She turned to see Angel standing in the doorway, had he seen the whole exchange between her and his son?

"Goodnight Little Man."

"Night, Daddy."

Buffy walked passed Angel and into the hallway. Angel pulled the door to, leaving it open a crack so the hall light could act as a night light. He turned to Buffy and placed his hand on her back. They walked down the hall and once they reached the living room, he spun her around and kissed her. It was a sweet kiss, and he let his lips linger upon hers for just a moment.

"What was that for?" She asked through a smile and he kissed her again.

"That was just for being you, and this," he said, kissing her once more, "is for charming my son."

"And this one," he said, placing a kiss on one cheek, "is for the bedtime story."

"This one is for the blush that crept up your face when Parker asked you to kiss him" and he gave her a kiss on the other cheek.

"Finally, this one is because I'm so very much in love with you." And he kissed her hard and thorough. He swept her up against his chest, cradling her with his hands. His kiss was passionate, he wanted her to feel all the way through her body how much she meant to him. As her lips parted slightly, his tongue found it's way within. She tasted like the glass of wine she'd had after dinner, and so much more.

Her hands came to rest upon his chest while they kissed. She let her hand move up his chest, up his neck and cup the side of his face. How was it that this one man, could say so much with just one kiss? Her hand found it's way to the back of his neck and it pulled, urging him further into the kiss.

"Angel, I need you, so badly." She said, her voice raw with passion.

"Buffy, oh baby, I need you too. It feels like forever since…" his voice trailed off. He turned from her and looked out the window.

"Angel, it's ok. I remember that day. I remembered it when I died. Life flashing before your eyes, guess you'll see stuff that's not supposed to be there."

He turned to look at her, a hurt look on his face. "Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"I, I, I was going to, but, I never got the chance. Angel, I forgave you for the choice you made that night we met between Sunnydale and LA. The timing wasn't right for me then, do you understand. I didn't see you again until you came to Sunnydale to give me the amulet and there was no time then either."

"I thought I carried that burden all alone, for all these years and you carried it too. Oh, Buffy, I'm so sorry. You weren't supposed to know. You never were supposed to remember."

She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He reciprocated her embrace and kissed her head.

"Come on, let's go to bed. We're both tired and we can continue this later." Angel said.

Buffy agreed and went to change into her Pjs while Angel made the sofa bed. When she came out of the bathroom, she found he had changed into a pair of silk sleep pants and no shirt. He had gotten more muscular as a human. She didn't really have time to study his body before, but she liked the more muscular Angel. He turned his back to her to turn down the sheets and she noticed that his tattoo was gone.

"That's is so crazy." she said

Angel turned around to look at her.

"What, what's crazy?"

"You're tattoo is gone. It's just, I don't know, weird."

"Well, guess that just gives me a chance to get 'Winona Forever' tattooed there."

"Yeah, I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to you using pop culture references. I'm more used to you quoting William Shakespeare and other people of the Dead Poets Society. Not making a Johnny Depp reference." She said, feigning a shudder.

"And besides, it better say 'Buffy Forever'."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Bye Parker, I'll see you again real soon, ok?"

"Ok, Buffy. Thanks for taking such good care of me and Daddy today."

"Your welcome."

"All right, Little Man. Let's go down and meet your Mommy."

Angel turned to tell Buffy he would be back up in just a minute. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation he was about to have with Tessa concerning her new employer. Buffy gave him an encouraging smile and waved them out the door.

Buffy sat down on the sofa and picked up her cell. After the events of the day before, she hadn't had a chance to call Willow and fill her in on Angel. She pressed the 3 button and hit send.

"Hello?"

'Hey Will, I've got MAJOR news!" Buffy couldn't mask her excitement

"There's another apocalypse on the way?" Willow asked, sarcastically.

"Now, silly rabbit. I have found the man of my dreams."

"Booth? But, what about Angel?" Willow asked, a little shocked at Buffy's statement.

"Well, that's just it. He's the man of my dreams because he's Angel. A fully human, curse free, Angel. He remembered, Will, everything about his life before."

"Goddess, Buffy, that's so great! I'm so happy for you, and Angel. So, when are you going to break the news to everyone else?"

"I don't know. We haven't discussed it yet. After we found out, we ended up keeping his son for the night, so we didn't have a chance to talk about it." 

"His son? You mean, Connor?" Willow asked, very confused.

"No, actually, he has another son, Will. An adorable little boy, he's 3."

"Wow! Another son. That's so huge."

"Well, what's even more with the huge is, Wolfram and Hart are back in business. He was kinda upset about it last night, because his son's mother, is now an employee there."

"So, what's the plan? Want me to call in the troops?"

"Just keep'em on standby for right now. We don't need them just yet, but I've got a feeling it's not far off. Look, I'm gonna go. I just wanted to give you an update, I'll talk to you soon. Love you, Will."

"Love you too, Buffy and send Angel my love, okay? Bye."

Buffy sat for a moment, and took a deep breath. So much had happened in less than a week and there were more things on the horizon. She and Angel needed to have a discussion about where things were going to go from here. She stood and walked over to the window. Looking down at the street, she saw Angel strapping Parker into Tessa's BMW. He gave his son's head a playful ruffle and shut the door. It was evident by the look on his face how much love he had for his son. Buffy watched as he turned to Tessa, who stood just outside the driver's door. Angel had a serious look on his face, Buffy could only guess he was asking about Wolfram & Hart. Tessa crossed her arms in a defensive position and turned her head. Angel said something else and Tessa threw her hands up in the air. She seemed very aggravated. She turned, said something else to Angel, opened the car door and got in. Angel stood an watched as Tessa started the engine and backed out. He looked hurt, wounded, and then he waved good bye to his son. He watched the sleek BMW roll down the street, and then turned to face the apartment building. As if he knew she was watching he turned his face up to the window and tried to give her a smile. It wasn't very convincing.

"I think it's time we had a little talk." Buffy said as Angel re-entered the apartment. She turned from the window to look at him.

"Yeah, there's really quite a bit we need to discuss, huh?" He said. "Why don't we talk while I make dinner, ok?"

Angel walked into the kitchen and proceeded to take out various pots and pans from the cupboard. Buffy followed him to the kitchen and watched while he made preparations for dinner. A smile crossed her face as he made his way to the refrigerator and opened the door. He stood there for a moment, with the door open. He let out a sigh, closed the door and turned to her.

"Looks like I'm going to need a few groceries before I can make dinner. I usually eat at the diner for dinner, so I'm ill prepared." he said solemnly.

Buffy took his hand, led him back into the living room and sat down on the couch. Angel sat down next to her and still holding her hand, placed his arm around her. She leaned into him and sighed.

"I know you're worried about them, but you knew when you took on the Senior Partners there was a chance they would return. Spike told me how you fought that night in the alley. I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I'm just glad Willow and the others made it there in time."

"Willow and the others. You know, I don't remember much from that night. I just remember fighting. I don't even know who survived. Obviously Spike did, if he told you about it, but what about Gunn and Illyria. And Connor, oh gods, Connor. I hadn't even thought about him."

Buffy sat up and looked at him. "You listen to me right now. Everyone is ok. Spike, well he's human. Gunn is alive and living with Faith in LA. Illyria is actually helping out Giles at the council and Connor, well, he's quite the ladies man. Willow brought him back to Scotland to train with the girls and he's doing just fine."

Angel looked relieved to hear all of that, and he actually seemed a little less tense.

"How did Gunn survive? Illyria said he was fading fast."

"That's our Willow for ya. She's a wonderful healer. She was the one that knew you were in trouble and needed help. She and Faith were in Cleveland at the time and ever since she became a goddess, she can sense things that we can't. So, she got hit with the big whammy and she and Faith took off with a few slayers. Things were all ready a big mess when she got there, so she just started healing."

"How big of a mess?" He asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Like you said, Gunn was on the brink of death and so was Connor. Willow saved them and immediately got Connor out of the fight. She said there was one thing that stood out in her mind, though, from that night."

"What's that?"

"Watching you slay a dragon. I saw it too. The video playback anyway."

Angel gave her a puzzled look.

"The Council's gotten pretty high tech in the last few years since Giles has taken over. Seems that being an organization for a few thousand years can earn you lot's of cash. So instead of misering it away, he went all Initiative on us. It's pretty cool actually, probably a lot like some of the stuff your swat teams would use."

"Oh." He sat there, taking in everything Buffy had just told him. He still had one question to ask, but he was kind of afraid to ask it.

"How did I die?"

"Well, not as gloriously as you would have liked. After you killed the dragon, you saw Spike was in trouble, about to be beheaded by a large demon, so you went to give him a hand. After you two took out the demon, another one staked you from behind. Spike killed him. When Faith saw it, she went on a rampage, slaying everything in her path. She cares a lot about you. I'm sure she'd like to know you're ok. And Connor too. He'll be so glad to know he's got a little brother."

Angel stood and paced back and forth in front of Buffy. After a few minutes he stopped and looked at her.

"I want to see him."

"Ok. We can go see him as soon as the case is over."

"No, Buffy, I need to see him, now."

"Uh, ok, but…"

"Listen, as of right now, the case has been turned over to the NSA. Meaning, it's Riley's case. He will keep us briefed on anything he finds. He's all ready promised to keep Bones updated. She was a little pissed that he came in and just took over. Also, I'd like to get a look at the Council's resources. There maybe something there that can help solve this case. Have you ever heard of The Black Dahlia murder?"

"I saw the movie, but that was the first I thing I'd ever heard about it, why?"

"I think the two murders maybe connected, along with a few other high profile murders throughout history. I think there's a reason that the police never found Elizabeth Short's murderer, because he or she wasn't human."

"So you're thinkin' vampire?"

"Possibly, or demon. I'd really like to talk to Giles about it."

"I can't believe you even want to see Giles. I mean, after what he did to you, telling you that we wouldn't help you and that I didn't trust you. He had no right, Angel. Quite frankly, I haven't even spoken to him outside of business in a long time."

She stood and walked back to her post at the window. A slight drizzle of rain had just begun. She watched as the drops made patterns on the window. Angel approached her from behind. He could tell she was hurting, so he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Buffy, I don't hate Giles. Believe it or not, I understand why he did what he did. For the last 10 years, he had done everything he could to protect you. He loves you, like his very own daughter. I've caused you more pain in your life than anyone else. I'm sure he didn't want to see you hurt again."

She turned to him with anger in her eyes. "And I'm sure that I am really tired of the men in my life making decisions for me. You, Giles, Spike, Xander and even Andrew for God's sakes. Poor wounded Buffy, we know what's best for her because we love her. We can't stand to see her hurt or to see her suffer. Did one of you ever think that it was you 'wise' decisions that caused me the most pain?"

"Buffy, I, uh."

"You!" she said, jabbing a finger into his chest, "You were the worst one of them all. Repeatedly breaking my heart so you could save me. So I could have a life, one that you couldn't give. All of it a crock of shit. You were too wrapped up in your own self pity to see what was really best for me and that's you!"

Angel took her hand from his chest and brought it to his lips.

"Gotten it all out?" he asked as he turned her hand over and placed a kiss on her knuckles.

She smiled, even blushed a little, "Yeah, I'm done. Just promise me from now on, we make life changing decisions together, ok?"

"You got it, babe." He said and pulled her to him for a kiss.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Sorry it's been so long since the last update. Hopefully I will have a bit more free time within the coming weeks to finish up the story. Enjoy.**_

**Chapter 20**

Faith lumbered up the stairs to her apartment. She frowned as she slid the key in the lock and gave it a turn. Pausing for just a moment after hearing the tell all "click", she pushed open the door. She looked around and listened intently. Good, Gunn wasn't home. She sighed and walked over to the chair in the hall and started to take off her boots.

"Bout time you made it back home. You still pissed off?"

Faith nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Jeez Charlie, give a girl a heart attack why don't ya. No, I'm not pissed anymore, but you maybe after I tell ya what I'm about to."

She paused, and stood up to her full height and turned to face Gunn. Biting her lower lip slightly, she turned her head to the side, as if contemplating her next move and then looked back at him.

"Angel's alive, Buffy found him."

Gunn looked at her in disbelief.

"What? When?"

"Best I know, a few days ago. I ran into 'em nite before last after our little tift. He didn't know at the time who he was, but he does now. Seems the Powers brought him back and he didn't remember a thing till now. I talked to him this morning."

"You talked to him. He called you, but what, I'm not important enough to be the first ones he calls. Forget all the times I almost died fighting his cause."

Faith slapped him hard across the face. She looked him angrily in the eyes.

"Don't ever pull that self pity act around me. He's got a lot on his plate right now. You know you're important to him. He knew I'd tell you everything, Buffy told him about us." She laughed a little. "He thought we'd fit well together. Anyway, he didn't call you because he's on his way to Scotland to see Connor, Ass!"

Gunn rubbed his cheek where Faith had just slapped him. The muscle in his left jaw twitched slightly, and then he smiled. He moved toward her, placed his hands on her waist and pulled her to him.

"Ok, no more self pity. You know, I missed you while you were off venting. Got any wounds you need me to lick?"

"That is so gross, but very hot at the same time." Faith said right before she crushed him to her for a hard, passionate kiss.

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Connor and Dawn were sitting on the moor watching a few of the slayers train when Angel and Buffy reached the castle. Angel stood there for a moment, watching his son, not sure about his next move. He sighed and turned to go back inside the castle. He was met with Buffy's angry glare.

"And just what do you think you are doing?" She asked, hands upon her hips.

"I, uh, I was just, uh, looking for you." He said sheepishly.

"Yeah, right. Don't you dare run away from this. We came all this way for you to have this moment and you're going to have it."

"But what if this moment isn't the moment I've envisioned. What if he hates me again, Buffy? I don't think I can bare that again."

Dawn turned from watching the slayers because she heard her sister's voice. Her mouth fell open at the sight that met her. Up on the hill, just a few feet away, stood her sister and "Angel?"

Connor, hearing what Dawn had just said followed her gaze up the hill. He stood abruptly, dropping the stake he'd been making and broke into a run.

"Dad! Dad!" he yelled as he ran up the hill.

Angel turned from Buffy just as he was hit with what he surmised was a boulder. Realizing it was Connor, hugging him, he hugged back.

"Oh my gods, Dad, it's you. It's really you." Connor said tearfully as he hugged his father.

"Yeah, son, it's really me." Angel said, returning Connor's embrace.

Connor stepped back and looked at Buffy. "You really did it, you found him. I mean, I never doubted you for a minute, but you did it!"

Connor stepped away from his father and swept Buffy up into a spiraling hug.

"What?" Dawn asked, out of breath from running up the hill, "is going on?"

Connor set Buffy down and turned to Dawn sweeping her up into another spiraling hug.

"Dawn, what in the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be at Berkley." Buffy asked.

"Yeah, well, it's a good thing I am here." she said as Connor sat her back down. "Or else I'd have missed Angel's big homecoming." Dawn glared angrily back at her sister.

Buffy turned to Angel, "Dawn and I are gonna go inside and let you catch up with Connor." She stepped up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the neck, whispering in his ear, "see, it was better than you envisioned it."

Angel watched the love of his life walk back to the castle. He turned to his son and smiled.

"I have to admit, I was afraid of seeing you again. I thought you might still harbor some bad feelings toward me." It was then that he noticed Connor watching Buffy and Dawn, with a longing look in his eye. He knew that look all to well.

"Does she know you love her?" Angel asked placing his hand upon his son's shoulder. Connor looked up at him with sadness in his eyes.

"Doesn't have a clue. Wouldn't do me a bit of good anyhow, she's in love with Spike. They've got a whole secret relationship going. She's been living with him in California for 4 months now."

Angel turned quickly and watched the two Summers women disappear into the castle. "Is Spike here?" Angel asked, taking his hand from Connor's shoulder to clench his fist.

Connor, mimicking his father's anger replied, "Yeah, he's here. What I wouldn't give for him to be an evil vamp bastard again, just so I can stake him." Realizing what he said he turned back to his father and said, "No offense."

"None taken. Come on, let's go have a chat with good ole, Spike." Angel said, cracking his knuckles as Connor did the same.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Spike was sitting in his room, strumming an acoustic guitar when Angel burst through his door.

"What the bloody hell?" Spike choked out as Angel slammed him against the wall, holding him off his feet by his throat.

"So, what? You can't have Buffy and you move on to prey upon Dawn? That's sick and twisted Spike, what the hell are you thinking?"

"How do you..." Spike struggled to ask. Angel turned Spike's face to the doorway, so he could see Connor standing there. Spike boor a seething glare at Connor. "You?"

"Yeah. Him." Angel answered.

At that moment Spike took advantage of his super human powers to toss Angel across the room.

"You probably should know, I got to keep all my powers there Peaches, before you decide to tangle with me over this. Go on back to your precious little Buffy and stay out of this." Spike said, stalking to where Angel had crashed into the wall and now sat upon the floor.

"He may not have his powers anymore Spike, but I do. So YOU need to think about that, before you try to start shit with my Dad." Connor said moving from the doorway.

Spike glared at him angrily once more and looked back at Angel.

"Think you can call your whelp off, while you and I have a bit of a chat?"

Angel stood, dusted himself off and nodded at Connor. "Go on, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon and we can finish catching up in a little bit, son."

"But..." Connor began to protest, but he realized the two men had more to talk about than the Dawn situation. "All right. But I'll be right down the hall, so watch yourself Spike." He turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

"So, seems you've gotten your memory back since the last time I saw you."

"Yeah, seems like it. What are you doing Spike? Dawn? She's just a kid."

"If I recall one of our many drunken conversations about Buffy, she was just a kid too when she captured your heart."

Angel moved to look out the window over the moor. "Yeah, but that was completely different."

"Different how, Peaches?" Spike asked, taking a cigarette from the pack and tapping it on the desk, before bringing it to his lips.

"Buffy had seen so much and" Angel paused, realizing Dawn had been through equally as much. "I guess it's really not that different. I just never expected it. You and Dawn, plus I guess I was pissed to see how hurt Connor was."

"Yeah, your boy's been pining away for Dawn since they met a few years ago, but much like dear ole dad, he was too scared to tell her and now, here we are." Spike chuckled. He struck a match against the rough wood of the desk and lit his cigarette. Inhaling deeply, he propped his feet upon the desk and leaned back in his chair. He observed Angel from his place behind the desk.

"You know, you're human now and those things can kill you, right?" Angel asked sarcastically, turning back from the window to take a good look at Spike.

"I have to say, humanity makes you seem a lot less...slimey."

"You too, ya big Poof."

"Just don't hurt her Spike. Don't take your aggressions towards Buffy out on Dawn. She deserves better than that."

They eyed each other for a moment, coming to a silent understanding before Spike spoke again.

"Honestly, I never expected to go this far. I think I could marry the girl, have babies and all. But.." Spike inhaled another puff of smoke and sat forward, elbows on his knees and bowed his head. "But, sometimes late I night, I just wanna run. I almost wanna go back to being Spike with a bloody soul." He whispered, as if he was ashamed.

"You don't know how many nights I sat outside Buffy's door and listened to her cry for you, all the while wishing you'd gotten this bloody humanity and let me die. I can't lie to you Peaches, I've been using the girl, trying to make myself feel anything but pain, again. I kinda understand what Buffy needed me for now. I can't help it that she fell in love hard and fast."

"But you can help the fact that your leading her on, Spike. If you don't love Dawn, then tell her. Don't let her think everything will be fairytales and roses."

"I told her I wanted children, that I wanted to marry her. Honestly, when I looked into those sparkling blue eyes, I was picturing myself to an almost identical pair of green ones. Bloody, hell! I've really made a mess of things. And I don't even know why I'm telling you all of this. YOU! Of all the people in the world, I'm spillin' my heart to the biggest Poof I know."

Angel stood looking at Spike, seeing the defeated look on his face he really felt for his old 'child'. Maybe because he knew what it was like to seek solace in someone, only to lead them on and them break their hearts.

"Maybe because of Nina and Cordelia and the countless women I've slept with since I became human. I mean, I've got a 3 year old son with a woman I can honestly barely tolerate, but at the time I told myself I loved her, that it would work. I know where you are Spike, that's why you're telling me."

Spike finally stood and looked at Angel.

"If you ever tell anyone I said this, I'll beat you to a bloody pulp, but I really missed you Peaches."

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"So, why are you here and not in California?" Buffy asked Dawn when they reached Dawn's room.

Dawn flung the door open, stomped in and with a huff, flopped down on her bed. Buffy stood in the doorway, watching the whole display with a smile. Dawn was truly a drama queen.

"I don't see why it matters." Dawn said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"It matters because I'm paying for you to be in school. Is it because I missed the meeting with you advisors?"

"Yeah, it was kind of important. I've been placed on academic probation until next semester. We have a two week break right now before finals and I flew here to get help from Willow. I didn't know where you were or what you were doing, she was the only person I could think to get help from. She's also the only person that knows how to get in touch with you."

"I'm sorry Dawn." Buffy apologized as she came to sit by Dawn on the bed. She reached a hand out to stroke Dawn's hair, like she'd done so many times before.

"I promise I'll be around more often now Dawn. I found him, Dawnie. You know what he means to me. What you both mean to me. I'm sorry I've neglected you, I really am, but you said before that you can understand now. Do you?"

Dawn laid her head in her sister's lap and sighed. "Yeah Buffy, I think I can. It's just that, well I think my new beau may be moving a little to fast. I thought I might have found my "Buffy and Angel" kind of love, but when he started to talk about marriage and kids, it freaked me out. I'm so not sure this guy I'm seeing is what I want forever Buffy. I mean, the uh, physical aspect of our relationship is great, I just don't think we have a forever kind of love."

"Dawn, it's ok. You don't have to marry anybody, especially right now. You are so young and have a very long life in front of you. Don't attach yourself to the wrong guy, just for the sake of being with someone. Take my word for it ok. You know, you never told me who your new guy is. Wanna tell me now.

Dawn sat up so abruptly her forehead clashed with Buffy's chin. At that moment there was a soft knock on Dawn's door.

"Peanut, pet. I need to talk to you, before your sister comes up here." Spike said from the other side of the door.

Still clutching her forehead Dawn raced to open the door. Buffy stood, looking from Dawn to Spike with a confused look until the reality of the situation smacked as hard as Dawn's head had.

"Spike." Was all Buffy could say before she stormed out of the room.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

After storming out of Dawn's room, Buffy went to find Angel. She didn't exactly know how to deal with the situation they had just fallen on her like a piano from a 4th story apartment. She was overwhelmed to say the least, and Angel always knew exactly how to help lift the weight of the world off her shoulders. She walked through the narrow corridor coming to a halt just before entering what was once the great hall. Pausing to lean against the doorway, she observed Angel and Connor sitting across from one another, both nose deep in research.

"Well, you didn't waste anytime jumping back into the groove of things didjya?" Buffy asked as she crossed the hall to perch upon the armrest of Angel's chair.

"Nope, fraid not." He said without looking up from the paragraph he was reading.

Buffy sighed and laid her head to the side, to rest on the top of the chair. She ran her hand across the top of Angel's hair, and twisted it slightly between her fingers. He smiled and laid his book to the side. Turning his head to face her, he took her hand and kissed it.

"Everything ok?" he asked.

"Sure, if you consider the fact that Spike is sleeping with my sister OK?" she said, rolling her eyes.

At this statement, Connor cleared his throat, "I believe that would be my cue to exit, stage left."

"He's in love with her, you know?" Angel said

"Angel said, kissing the top of Buffy's forehead.

"Really? Well, that's way better than Spike, yet still a little creepy. But, just because of the whole, she was made from my mystical DNA and Connor is your prophecy child thing. That is a way better alternative to Spike though. And how did you know about this. You've been here all of like, a minute and you all ready know way more than me."

"Well, the way I hear it, you've not really had lots of free time on your hands. I mean, not that that is a bad thing, because we found each other, again. You just can't beat yourself up for not noticing. I knew by the look Connor held for Dawn that he is in love with her, but felt she was out of his reach. I know, because I've looked at you that way many, many times."

She yawned and snuggled closer to him. "Well, I can understand that. What am I going to do about her and Spike, though? I'm not sure if I know how to handle this. Saving the world from unspeakable evil is something I've got under control. But dealing with my little sister knocking boots with my ex isn't on my life resume."

"Honestly, I think that whole matter will resolve itself before you even really have to worry about it."

"I hope so. Enough about Dawn's love triangle. I'm ready to show you to our rooms, Agent Booth." Buffy said with a slight giggle.

"Wow, that's weird. I'm gonna have to legally change my name, should Angel be my first or middle name?"

"First."

"Angel Seeley Booth. Kinda just rolls off the tongue, much like this." He said, capturing Buffy's mouth with his own. It never ceased to amaze him how one kiss from Buffy seemed to throw his whole body into a whirlwind. As her mouth opened with invitation, his tongue traced her lower lip and teeth before finding her own. A moan worked it's way up from within her and she shifted her body so she was sitting astride him. As the intensity of their passionate kiss increased, she ground her hips against him, trying in anyway to relieve the burning that had begun there. She whimpered, he growled.

"God, Angel I need you. I need to feel you, inside. Please?" She whimpered once more.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and stood with her, she wrapped her legs around him. They continued kissing, Angel strode to the door. He paused for air and asked, "Which way to your room?"

"Up the winding stairs on the left and third door the right." She returned to kissing him, everywhere she could. His face, from forehead to chin and made her way from his neck to the lobe of his ear, where she gently nibbled.

Angel growled in response as he pushed open the door to her room. He walked in and sat her on the bed. As he slipped off her shirt, there was a loud buzz causing him to startle and stand back.

"Miss Summers."

Buffy rolled her eyes, "This had so better be good." She walked to the intercom by the door and pressed the button. "Yeah?"

"Mr. Harris and Ms. Rosenberg have returned from the village, you said you would like be notified the moment they came in, they are waiting for you in the library."

Angel watched the emotions play across Buffy's face, at first she seemed annoyed and then a little frightened. There was definite dread on her face, but he couldn't help but smile at her. She was so beautiful standing there, in her pink lace bra and blue jeans, unbuttoned at the top.

"What in the world are you smiling at?" She asked.

"You. Just you."

"Miss Summers, are you there?" The voice from the intercom asked.

Buffy pressed the button once more, "Yes, I'm still here. Please be so kind as to let them know I'll be down in just a few minutes."

She turned and faced Angel letting out a frustrated groan.

"Guess playtime is over for now, huh. By the look on your face, you're not looking forward to seeing them. Why?"

"Oh, well, it's because Xander doesn't know, and you know how he gets. All Mr. Accusations and such. It's ok though," she said, walking to him and putting her arms around his neck, "I have you to stand by me and get me through."

"That's right, you do. And you know the best part?"

"What?"

"I'm human now, so if he says anything outta line, I can punch him and it won't be unfair." He said with a grin.

Buffy smiled back and swatted at him, "You are sooo bad." she giggled. "There will be no punching going on, I hope. Just a very civilized conversation. Let's go, don't need to put this off any longer."

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_**30 minutes later in the library...**_

"Well, it's good to know that you could trust ME with this kinda thing. Glad to know that I'm worthy enough to know you found the love of your life." Xander said sarcastically.

"Xander listen to me for just a minute. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hear again how I was chasing ghosts. We only just found out for sure that he is Angel. Please don't be so angry with me." Buffy pleaded. She cared for Xander a lot and truly hated when he was angry with her. He and Willow were her best friends, they had all helped each other through so much.

"What is it, were you afraid of hurting my feelings? Didn't think poor little Xander could take it? Do you really think that I'm still pining away for you, Buffy? I don't give two shits if you found 'Your darling' Angel or not." Xander started for the door.

It was at this moment Angel decided to step into the doorway from his his hiding place out in the hall.

"I think you need to turn around and hear Buffy out, Nick Fury."

"Still like to skulk in the shadows, I see Dead-Boy."

"I don't know if you've heard, but that would be Not-so-Dead-Boy. You know what I wanna know?"

"What's that?"

"Where the hell you come off as Mr. High and Mighty. Buffy has saved your life countless of times, she's taken you into her home and heart. She loves you unconditionally, yet you are always the first one to judge her."

"What do you know? You haven't even been around for the last 8 years. I mean sure, you've lurked a bit, helped when we needed it, but you weren't truly there. You left her and we were left to pick up the pieces. I watched her heart break more than once because of you, so yeah, I would have told her to leave you alone, not to find you. You're no good for her. You don't deserve her."

With that statement Angel turned his head to look at Buffy, she stood there with unshed tears in her eyes. He had once believed he didn't deserve her, but no more.

"You know what, Xander? Neither do you."

Xander looked from Angel to Buffy and back to Angel. "Just don't hurt her again. You are human now, right? So that means if you hurt her, I CAN kick your ass this time around." He looked back to Buffy, "I'm sorry."

She walked to him and enveloped him in a hug, "It's ok, Xand, I understand."

Willow watched the whole scene from atop the desk. "Well, now that all that nonsense is outta the way, let's eat. I'm famished and Xander and I picked up some yummy roasted chicken in the village. I even snagged a bottle of wine, seeing as this is a celebration and all."

"Sounds great. Let me just see if Dawn and..." Buffy paused, "Spike want to join us." she finally ground out.

Willow jumped down from the desk and began to nervously fidget with her hands. "Dawn and Spike, they're here. I thought Dawn was at school."

Buffy noted how panicky Willow seemed, "I thought you knew. She said she'd been placed on academic probation and needed your help studying some things before finals."

"Oh yea, that's right, I had completely forgotten." Willow said. "Well, let's go eat that food, huh?" She said taking Buffy's hand and pulling her towards the door.

"You knew she was sleeping with Spike, didn't you?" Buffy asked.

Xander made a horrible choking sound, "WHAT? Please, for the love of GOD, please tell me I did not just hear that Dawn has been sleeping with SPIKE! What is it with you Summers women and vampires, or former vampires?"

"HEY!" Buffy and Angel said in unison.

"Buffy, don't be mad. I've only known for a little while and I gave Dawnie a specific amount of time to tell you, before I did. It's just that none of us have seen you in months, so she never had the chance. I'm sorry Buffy."

"It's ok, Will. Really, I wouldn't want to be the one that broke the news to me either." She sighed and Angel came to her and took her hand. He could tell she was feeling frustrated again.

"How about we all go eat this celebratory dinner Willow's got planned and leave the 'Days' drama out of the rest of the night?" He winked at Buffy.

She smiled, and winked back, giggling at his use of another pop culture reference. This was becoming an inside joke with them.

"You got it dude." She said and gave his hand a squeeze.


End file.
